Legal News

SUVs, RVs and Scooters: More Allegations Emerge in Sam Israel Case

By Dan Slater

Talk about the worst of both worlds. Late yesterday, the longtime live-in girlfriend of Samuel Israel III — the former hedge fund CEO, convicted felon and fugitive from the law — was arrested and charged with helping him flee. On June 9, when Israel was supposed to begin serving a 20-year prison term for fraud, police found his SUV parked unattended on the Bear Mountain Bridge in Westchester County. Portrayed as a suicide — the words “suicide is painless” were scrawled in the dust on the hood — authorities never found a body and later declared Israel a fugitive. Click here for the WSJ’s story. (Find past LB coverage here and here.)

According to court documents (access the indictment through the WSJ story), Debra Ryan admitted to the U.S. Marshals Service that she helped Israel load his belongings into a recreational and attach a motor scooter to it in the days before he was to report to prison. Ryan also reportedly admitted that Israel woke her up early on the morning of June 9 and asked her to follow him in her own car to drop off the RV at a rest area off Interstate 684 in New York State. Ryan said she drove Israel back to their home afterward. Later that day, he allegedly left alone in his SUV and disappeared. Authorities believe Israel may be staying at RV parks, campgrounds or highway rest stops.

So much for São Tomé!

Ryan has been charged with a single count of aiding and abetting. She was released on a $75,000 bond late Thursday after a hearing before a U.S. magistrate judge in White Plains, N.Y. She faces a maximum of 10 years on the charges.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on June 20, 2008 (boomark / email).