Support for Sparkman

Supporters of Gregory Sparkman invoked the Biblical trials of Job to describe his predicament as he awaits sentencing for federal arson and mail fraud charges.

During a rally near the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, friends and family described Sparkman as a warm-hearted, friendly man devoted to his family, community and church.

The profile is a marked contrast to how federal prosecutors portrayed Sparkman at trial in October. In their descriptions, Sparkman was a scheming businessman trying to gain advantages by torching vehicles and an office at an auto dealership where he owned a part interest.

Tom Wilson, partner in West Park Motors, told the crowd of more than 300 that he is convinced Sparkman didn't set the fires. Like Job -- tested by God with troubles and tragedies -- Sparkman and his family are undergoing a test of faith, Wilson said.

"Everything taken away will be given back tenfold," Wilson said.

The rally Tuesday morning was designed to cap weeks of family and friends crusading for leniency for Sparkman and to get him freed on bond pending appeal. The decision on bond would have come immediately after sentencing, but that act was postponed Friday following a joint request from prosecutors and Sparkman's attorney, Rick Sindel of St. Louis.

Sparkman was convicted in October on 15 federal felony counts of arson and mail fraud. He faces a sentence of 15 to 95 years in federal prison.

The verdict shattered his wife, Lisa Sparkman, who broke into agonized sobs in the courtroom. Since then, family and friends have organized to support Sparkman.

Sparkman's sentencing is now set for April 11. Supporters shouldn't be disheartened by the delay, attorney Sindel told the crowd.

"We are trying in our own way to negotiate and see if there are other options that are available to us," he said.

Sindel declined to give details after the rally.

"I don't want to jeopardize anything," Sindel said. " "I don't want to say a single word or draw a single breath that would have a negative effect on Greg in the future."

In the trial, former Sparkman employee Scott Smith testified that he and Sparkman moved two vehicles from the lot of West Park Motors in December 2000. They took a truck and a van to a remote location off South Sprigg Street where Sparkman used gasoline to ignite a fire in each, Smith testified.

The pair then went to West Park Motors, where Sparkman set a blaze in the dealership office, Smith testified.

Sparkman never denied being with Smith the night of the fire. He told investigators at the time and has maintained since that he and Smith were working on a bannister for his home.

Smith testified in exchange for a reduction in a federal prison term for making methamphetamine. He was arrested more than a year after the fire.

Assistant U.S. attorney Michael Price said last week that he would oppose releasing Sparkman on bond. The arson is a crime of violence, he said, and federal prosecutors in the district oppose post-conviction bonds for violent criminals as a matter of policy.

Putting Sparkman out on bond would not endanger the community or create a risk of him fleeing, supporters said Tuesday.

"I just think it is wrong not to allow him to have bond," said Doug Weaver, assistant manager of Country Mart grocery in Jackson. "He's not a violent criminal."

As the rally began, Lisa Sparkman received a telephone call from her husband, who is being held at the Pemiscot County Jail.

"Thank you," Gregory Sparkman said as his wife held the telephone close to a microphone.

That was the only audible words. Lisa Sparkman then relayed a message from her husband:

"Thank you for here and supporting our family," she said. "He hopes everybody has a very blessed day. He loves you all."

"We love you, too, Greg," the crowd cried back.

Jim Mathews, pastor at the Cape County Cowboy Church, opened the rally with a prayer. "We need your help, grace and mercy to seek help where there is no help," he said.

To prepare an appeal, the Sparkmans have hired Sindel, who has extensive experience in criminal appeals. In his remarks, Sindel sought to brace the crowd for setbacks.

An appeal can only argue points raised during a trial, Sindel said. There's no chance to present new evidence or raise objections to actions taken by prosecutors if there was no objection during the trial, he said.

Defense lawyers are often accused of cynically manipulating the system to free criminals, Sindel said. That's not true. The rules favor prosecutors, he said.

"It is not we who take advantage of loopholes," Sindel said. "It is the government that takes advantage."

Every decision in the courtroom favored prosecutors, Sindel said.

"The scales of justice in this particular case are unbalanced," he said. Jurors "saw an image projected on a two-dimensional screen that had no depth, no life."

When Lisa Sparkman's turn came to speak, she choked back tears. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart," Lisa Sparkman said. "By the grace of God, we will get him back home. I couldn't make it without your support and your prayers."

Some supporters traveled for hours to reach the park behind the federal courthouse.

Marvadine Barrow of Hartford, Ky., said she's known Sparkman and his family for years, first meeting Gregory Sparkman when he was a child. "You could ask him to do anything, and he would do it."

Nancy Venable and Margie Broughton of St. Louis agreed. "If you need a friend, Greg was there for you," Venable said.

Sparkman and his wife can visit once a week, for 25 minutes. Sindel said he's hoping to get Sparkman relocated. "He is pretty far from his family and he could benefit from moving closer."

Lisa Sparkman had hoped to see her husband, albeit briefly, despite the delay in sentencing. But federal marshals decided not to bring him to Cape Girardeau. Instead, Sindel planned to travel to see him in jail.

"They said they wouldn't bring Greg up today because it was a security risk," Lisa Sparkman said. "They were going to bring him up for sentencing. What difference would it have made?"

Enduring a continued uncertainty will be tough, but Lisa Sparkman said she would survive. "We can do it. we've already done it for three months."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 126