Noe wants change of venue for state trial

Michigan

Tom Noe wants his trial on 53 counts of theft, forgery, and racketeering moved to a different county.

Claiming that publicity has been prejudicial, Mr. Noe’s lawyers say finding a fair and impartial jury in Lucas County would be impossible.

They filed a motion today in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.The motion claims media coverage of the former Maumee coin dealer in The Blade has been overwhelming negative and sensational.

Mr. Noe, who is also the former chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party, is awaiting trial on the 53 felony counts in his handling of a $50 million rare-coin fund investment he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

A 15-page memorandum filed with the motion said that more than 755 articles, letters to the editor, and editorials mentioning Mr. Noe have been printed in the newspaper since April 1, 2005.

The trial on the criminal charges is scheduled for Aug. 29. He also faces charges in federal court for allegedly funneling more than $45,000 into President Bush’s re-election campaign. He is scheduled to enter a guilty plea to those charges in U.S. District Court at the end of the month.

DAM

Hope they move him to my county and I'm picked as a juror.

I'm not prejudice, I despise all crooks like him. So he'll be treated fairly by me.

Coinosaurus

greghansen

Sounds like he should be more concerned about his pending 'change of residence' rather than a change of venue.

orie

Thanks for keeping us up to date on NOE. What's happened to the coins? As I recall they were going to sell them in big lots, but that got canceled.

This is one of the biggest scams since Bruce McNall.

morgannut2

Does he think he'll do less than 20 years in another venue? If he'd
been smart, he would have hidden a few million and plead to a lesser charge
if the money was returned. Michigan--let us know when the Fed's go after him for tax evasion.

roadrunner

Somehow I see him only doing 5-8 years at most.

roadrunner

michael

oh yes lets move it to where he wants to

in fact why just we dont put the jury in jail instead of noe

they violated his rights along with all the fat greedy repigublicans

construct

I think I would have moved to Brazil.

stiffy

Defendants with money make this motion frequently if the media
gets ahold of the case. It isn't often granted.

mrearlygold

<< <i>Sounds like he should be more concerned about his pending 'change of residence' rather than a change of venue. >>

Longacre

If that is what it takes to get a fair trial. I hope they change venue if circumstances warrant. I thought defendants were innocent until proven guilty.

Conder101

<< <i>Thanks for keeping us up to date on NOE. What's happened to the coins? As I recall they were going to sell them in big lots, but that got canceled. >>


Well so for they have sold a couple of large groups privately, and then there was the 7 million dolars worth they sold at the end of March. There is still more to come.

Elcontador

Only one coin dealer I know of did time. It was during the last bullion bust. He took people's money, gave them IOUs, guaranteeing them that day's price on Canadian Maple Leafs when they came in, etc., and then went BK. Did four years. I saw this stuff happen repeatedly in his shop and many people were defrauded. IMO it was an open and shut case.

Unless Noe gets convicted of doing something as blatant and unsophisticated like the above, I don't see him doing much time at all.

stiffy

"If that is what it takes to get a fair trial. I hope they change venue if circumstances warrant. I thought defendants were innocent until proven guilty. "

Trial seems unlikely, unless a deal cannot be worked out.