Page 2 • The Battalion
STATE & LOCAL
Tuesday • November 15,
Health spa tycoon found guilty of passport fraud
day ‘Nov
Founder sentenced to four months,
receives credit for time already served
HOUSTON (AP) — Despite
prosecutors’ hope for a stiffer
penalty, a federal judge has sen
tenced a former health spa ty
coon to four months in prison
and a $100,000 fine for passport
fraud charges.
Richard Minns, who left the
country after his ex-girlfriend
was paralyzed in a 1980 shoot
ing, faced up to 40 years in
prison and $2.5 million in fines
for the charges he pleaded
guilty to Nov. 3 on the second
day of his trial.
But he got four months Mon
day and credit for time already
served while awaiting trail,
meaning he will finish serving
his sentence at noon Friday.
Since he’s in the country illegal
ly, he will be turned over to im
migration officials who will de
cide if he should be deported.
Minns wants to be deported
and allowed to return to Cana
da, where he was headed when
he was arrested in July at the
Dallas-Fort Worth International
Airport, his attorneys said.
The 64-year-old founder of the
President & First Lady health
club chain gained notoriety
years ago after the 1980 shoot
ing of Barbra Piotrowski outside
a Houston doughnut shop.
Four men were convicted
and sentenced in the shooting,
which left Ms. Piotrowski, who
later changed her name to Jan-
ni Smith, paralyzed from the
waist down.
Minns has never been
charged, but he sold his business
interests and fled the country
shortly after the attack. His for
mer lover, believing he was the
mastermind, sued him and won
a $32 million judgment in 1990
that is still under appeal.
Smith, who now lives in Cali
fornia and runs a rehabilitation
center with her husband, was an
gered by the short sentence.
“It’s extremely difficult to be
lieve,” Smith said in a telephone
interview Monday.
“I had faith that this time jus
tice was going to be served. I
guess that our innocents are go
ing to be brutalized ... and then
we reward the criminals for do
ing it, especially if they happen
to be wealthy,” she said.
But she also said she will still
try to collect the judgment. Oral
arguments on the appeal are
scheduled next month.
Minns said little during his
sentencing, but defense attorney
Mike Ramsey said afterward
that his client was relieved the
case was over.
Minns was flying from Mexico
to Vancouver, Canada when he
was arrested at Dallas-Fort
Worth airport. At the time, he
had seven passports from four
different countries and under
five different names, officials
have said.
Prosecutors on Monday
claimed Minns obtained pass
ports illegally as part of his ef
forts to elude justice in case he
was ever charged in Smith’s
shooting.
But defense attorneys have
maintained their client was
striving for privacy and did not
have any criminal intent when
he obtained the passports. Ram
sey also said Monday the case
had nothing to do with the high
ly publicized shooting, and he
asked the judge not to consider
it in passing sentence.
Hughes seemed to agree, say
ing that despite all the publicity,
he was passing sentence in a
passport fraud case.
“We had argued for perhaps
a more stiffer sentence, but ul
timately it’s up to the judge to
decide the sentence,” said U.S.
Attorney Gaynelle Griffin
Jones. “We accept whatever the
judge’s ruling is.”
Hughes also scolded U.S. State
Department officials over Minns’
Irish passport, which was sent to
Ireland even though the govern
ment had agreed to return it
when Minns pleaded guilty.
Texas to convert rehab prisons to high-security facilities
AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas prison sys
tem is converting new and highly touted
substance abuse rehabilitation prisons into
more secure lockups to house higher-risk
criminals that are backed up in county
jails, a newspaper reported Monday.
The cost to convert the facilities, many of
which are under construction, could go as
high as $6 million, the Austin American-
Statesman reported.
Prison officials say the move will save
the state millions of dollars in reimburse
ment payments to counties that are hous
ing state felons in local jails.
And, they said, this will not derail the
drug and alcohol treatment initiative that
had been touted as a major step in stopping
the cycle of crime.
“We always thought all of the substance
abuse beds wouldn’t be filled right from the
start,” said Andy Collins, executive director
of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
“We’re simply increasing the security de
sign so we can hold other types of inmates
there” in the short term, he said.
“I don’t think anybody would want us
to have (prison) beds sitting there empty,”
he said.
The Legislature in 1991 authorized the
construction of 12,000 beds for intensive
substance abuse treatment.
Of the 12,000 beds, sites for 10,600 have
been selected, officials said. Of those, 9,000
were to be housed in separate lockups and
1,600 were to be phased in as separate pro
grams in existing prisons. Sites for another
1,400 beds haven’t been chosen, officials said.
Of the 9,000 beds, 6,000 beds located in
eight prisons are to be “enhanced” to hold
other convicts.
Those changes include installation of 12-
foot-tall perimeter fencing topped with razor
wire, additional security lighting, electronic
door locks and the enclosure of guard desks
in chain link fencing to withstand a riot.
Lawmakers never fully funded the
treatment programs planned for 12,000
beds because not all were expected to be
opened immediately, the American-
Statesman reported.
In September, a state study projected
that only 7,200 intensive therapy beds
would be needed by 1996.
Even before the report, prison agency
records show that “enhancement” of the
drug treatment prisons had been under
study since May. After months of negotia
tions with contractors to change the design,
officials said, the first conversion was or
dered in late September.
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Randall Walton, a junior zoology major from South Lake
Kyle Kepple, a senior petroleum engineering majorff
Joshua, through his strengthening exercises in a physical
py session at Beutal’s physical therapy department.
Bush pledges to sign bill allowing Education necessary for judges, police officer
mp . 1 J J dealing with abusive husbands, boyfriends '* dZeppelins
lexans to carry concealed handguns , v * m _ A ^ , u 7
J SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Protective orders have come un- her needs.
AUSTIN (AP) — Gov.-elect George W. Bush
said Monday he will sign legislation that would al
low Texans to carry concealed handguns.
A little more than 15 months ago, Gov. Ann
Richards vetoed a bill that would have let Tex
ans vote on whether they should be allowed to
tote handguns.
The new bill, which wouldn’t require voter ap
proval, was introduced by state Rep. Ron Wilson,
D-Houston, for the regular legislative session that
starts Jan. 10.
“I support Mr. Wilson’s bill ... I will sign that
bill,” Bush said at a news conference. Bush defeat
ed Richards last week in the general election. Dur
ing the campaign, he said he supported concealed
handgun legislation.
Wilson’s bill would allow persons who are 21-
years-old or older with no history of criminal wrong
doing or mental illness to apply for a license.
To get the license, applicants would have to
complete a firearm education and safety class set
up by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
On June 3, 1993, Richards vetoed a non-bind
ing referendum on the issue, saying it was a tax
payer-funded opinion poll for gun interests. She
was backed by numerous law enforcement
groups that said the measure would only lead to
more violence.
This time, Wilson said, with Bush’s backing,
the bill will become law.
“It’s nice to have the chief executive who be
lieves in the people’s ability to protect them
selves,” Wilson said.
Currently, state law doesn’t allow citizens to be li
censed to carry concealed or exposed handguns. It re
stricts Texans to keeping handguns at home, carry
ing them from a purchase, taking them on a hunting
or fishing trip or transporting them during travel.
state senator says laws to pro
tect battered women will be inef
fective until judges and law en
forcers start acting more respon
sibly in dealing with abusive
spouses and boyfriends.
“We have good laws on the
books, but they’re not always en
forced,” said Sen. Judith Zaffirini,
D-Laredo and a member of a Sen
ate committee examining domes
tic violence. “We need continuing
education for judges, police and
prosecutors so they can develop
experience and knowledge about
how to deal with these cases.”
Women are urged to seek a
protective order in abusive rela
tionships, but that doesn’t always
protect them, the senator said.
der attack for various reasons:
—they are difficult to enforce;
—a hearing on a violation may
take six months to come to court;
—judges often don’t assess
the maximum punishment;
—the orders aren’t available
to everyone who needs them.
Debby Tucker, executive di
rector of the Texas Council on
Family Violence, noted that
Michelle Gomez obtained a pro
tective order to defend herself
from her ex-husband.
The day before Gomez was
killed. Tucker said, the judge
presiding over a hearing on a vi
olation of a protective order ad
monished the woman’s former
husband “to be more sensitive to
Timm Doc
“The judge saw the prod
as a marriage-communica'I
problem,” Tucker said ini
day’s editions of the San Ante
Express-News.
Gomez had obtained a pnl
tive order to keep P CialtoThf.
DeLaCruz at a safe distaa
from her and had filed a cl Do you reme
ingly prophetic affidavitt^rd about a c
days after Christmas.
“He has always been verb
abusive to me, (choking) me a
beating me,” Gomez said in!
court document. “I’m afraid b
going (to) kill me or our childrei >w what albi
The couple were divert tdominates
March 3, and Gomez died
DeLaCruz’s hands less
month later.
* FREE PREGNANCY TESTING
• Confidential Counseling
Information & Referrals Available
Good Samaritan Pregnancy Service, Inc.
505 University Dr., Suite 602
846-2909
Call for an appointment
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MURDER!
MSC Second Annual Murder Mystery
Join us for our second murder November 18 at 7 p.m.! You are the detective assigned
to crack the case. Can you solve the case before the murderer kills again?
But remember to be careful! The culprit is inside Rudder WITH YOU!
BUY YOUR TICKET NOW AT THE SECRE TARY’S ISLAND IN THE
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AT 6:30 THE NIGHT OP THE MURDER
INDIVIDUALS - $3. GROUPS OF 4 - $10.
irt Show
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B U F F E T
Join us on Thursday, November 24th
or a traditional dinner.
We’re in Our Turkey Best!
Turkey with Dressing • Chicken Florentine
Steamship Round of Beef
Carved Bone in Ham • Beef Stroganoff
Catfish Mediterranean • Deep Fried Shrimp
Chilled Shrimp served with Cocktail Sauce
Slow Roasted Pork Duxelles
Omelettes Cooked to Order, Waffle Station
Eggs Benedict, Quiche Lorraine,
French Toast, and Blintzes.
Reservations Suggested
409/693-7500
With an array of delicious vegetables, breads,
and cheeses and a wonderful assortment of
Sweets including: New York Cheesecake,
j Pumpkin and Pecan Pie. Build your own
Ice Cream Sundae and much, much more!
If College Station
Served from 11:00 AM - 2:30 PM
and Conference Center
$14.95 Adults
$5.95 Children 6-12
15% Senior Citizens Discount
5 and Under EAT FREE
The Battalion
801 University Dr. East • College Station, TX 77840
BELINDA BLANCARTE, Editor in chief
MARK EVANS, Managing editor JENNY MAGEE, Opinion editor
HEATHER WINCH, Night News editor STEWART MILNE, Photo editor
MARK SMITH, Night News editor DAVE WINDER, Sports editor
KIM McGUIRE, City editor ROB CLARK, Agg/e/f/e editor
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Staff Members
City desk— Jan Higginbotham, Katherine Arnold, Michele Brinkmann, Stephanie Dube, Am!
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