Allen Stanford's Ponzi Trial On Hold While Court Decides If He's Too Crazy To Continue

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Not to say, 'we told you so,' but when a guy's behavior leads us to write about his similarities to maniac SNL character Bill Brasky, there's a good chance he's got some mental issues. Before he ever got arrested for running an $8 billion Ponzi out of a Miami office, Allen Stanford bought a Coral Gables castle for his mistress; spent millions bringing cricket to a tiny Caribbean island all so he could hit on the stars' wives; and may have traveled with a priest with stigmata and a vial of his own blood.

So it shouldn't be the shock of the century that Stanford's trial is now on indefinite hiatus while the court tries to figure out if he's maybe too loony to continue.

Stanford's hearing was supposed to start next week in Houston, but U.S. District Judge David Hittner has continued the trial while attorneys argue over his competency.

In their most recent filing, the alleged Ponzi king's lawyers argue that Stanford was beaten so brutally in jail by his fellow inmates -- and yes, the post-beatdown photos are gruesome -- that he suffered "traumatic brain injury." (The fight supposedly started when Stanford took a phone call inside the packed cell, which was meant for eight men but held 14.)

Even worse, as he's recovered from the injuries he's become addicted to the powerful painkiller Klonopin, his attorneys say. He should be taken to a private facility to recover before a trial begins, they argue.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, want him kept on home confinement so he can get treatment at a Houston hospital.

What continues to be most amazing, amidst all the infighting over his psychiatric problems, is the fact that a guy like Stanford could allegedly build such a monstrous fraud.

As you can read in our investigative piece, he did it with a lot of help from Florida's legislators in Washington. His list of victims, meanwhile, continues to grow -- earlier this month, a federal trustee sued the University of Miami seeking $6.4 million in cash the school supposedly got from his fraudulent firm.

Here's the latest filing on his health problems:

stanfordhealth

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Crime

Tim Elfrink is a former investigative reporter and managing editor for Miami New Times. He has won the George Polk Award and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.

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Allen Stanford's Ponzi Trial On Hold While Court Decides If He's Too Crazy To Continue

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