Cape auto dealer's sentence in arson, fraud case postponed

~ A rally supporting Gregory Sparkman will still be held Tuesday.

A federal judge Friday postponed sentencing for Gregory Sparkman, a Cape Girardeau auto dealer convicted of arson and mail fraud, but a rally supporting his release on bond will go ahead as planned.

Judge Henry Autrey issued a decision at about 2 p.m. to delay the sentencing, which had been set for Tuesday morning. He will reschedule the sentencing for April, assistant U.S. attorney Michael Price said.

Sparkman was convicted Oct. 14 and has been held since that time at the Pemiscot County Jail. Sparkman faces a minimum of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of 95 years for his conviction on 15 felony counts.

Autrey's decision came after Price and defense attorney Rick Sindell of St. Louis filed a joint motion for delay. The motion was filed under seal, and neither attorney would comment on its contents or the reason for the postponement.

The delay caught Sparkman's supporters and family by surprise. Sparkman's wife, Lisa, said she had called Sindell and he consoled her and asked her to trust him.

"I have mustered every ounce of strength I have to make it to Tuesday," Lisa Sparkman said. "It is disheartening to think I have to make it until April."

The 8 a.m. Tuesday rally, which supporters hope will draw several hundred people to the federal courthouse at 339 Broadway, is designed to show Autrey the community support for Sparkman and that he would not be a risk to flee if released on bond pending appeal.

"It is important for Greg and Lisa Sparkman to show the U.S. judicial system that Greg is not a flight risk," said Mark Van Matre, a close friend of the Sparkmans and an organizer of the rally.

Greg Sparkman's case has been the subject of an intense campaign to win his release on bond. Numerous letters to the editor of the Southeast Missourian, an online petition and a full-page ad Sunday with more than 500 names are all part of the effort.

His daughter, Kaci Jo Sparkman, called U.S. attorney Catherine Hanaway last week in an attempt to appeal for the government to drop its opposition to his release on bond as his appeal moves forward.

The call was an unusual form of family appeal, Hanaway said. "It is unusual to be contacted by a minor child of the defendant. It is not unusual for the U.S. attorney to be a call of last resort by family members."

Federal law leaves the decision on bond to judges, Hanaway said. The judge must not only find that the defendant is not a flight risk but that the defendant also likely to either gain a new trial or win a reduced sentence on appeal.

"There is some sense this community involvement will somehow change how our office will proceed from here," Hanaway said. "There is absolutely no discretion from our office at this point."

There will be no slackening of the government effort to put Sparkman in prison, Price said. "Our office policy is to not to agree to bond in a crime of violence. We try to treat everybody the same. If the judge wants to change that, it is his prerogative to do so."

Greg Sparkman is a businessman who owns an auto dealership in Gordonville. He and his wife operate Circle S Saddle Co.

An all-female jury convicted Sparkman of arson and mail fraud based on the fires that destroyed two vehicles and the offices of West Park Motors in December 2000. The mail fraud charges stemmed from the applications for insurance checks mailed to cover the dealership's losses.

The key prosecution witness in the case, Scott Smith, was a former Sparkman employee who at the time of the arson trial was serving a federal prison sentence for making methamphetamine. Federal prosecutors cut a deal with Smith for his testimony that allowed his early release from prison.

Smith testified at trial that he helped Sparkman set the fires by accompanying Sparkman as he drove the two vehicles to a remote location off South Sprigg Street. Smith testified that he drove Sparkman but did not set the vehicles on fire or set the fire in the auto dealership office.

Sparkman did not deny the two were together at the time of the fires. He, however, insisted that they were painting a new bannister Smith was building for Sparkman's home.

Smith, through his attorney, Albert Lowes, has declined requests for an interview. He was released from prison Dec. 1.

"He wants to get on with his life," Lowes said.

Sparkman's supporters accuse Smith of lying to get a deal from prosecutors. Lowes said he warned Smith to stick to the facts. "I told him early on that we don't want to say anything that is not absolutely true."

And while Lowes believes Sparkman is guilty, he doesn't believe the potential sentence of 15 to 95 years is just.

"It is the wisdom on the Potomac that passes such terribly draconian penalties," he said. "There was nobody hurt. He merely ripped off some insurance companies."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126