ConectiSys Corp. (CONC)

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Ex-Prosecutor Gets 2 Years for Ethics, Fraud Violations

September 09, 1997|ALAN ABRAHAMSON | TIMES STAFF WRITER


A former Los Angeles federal prosecutor who specialized in organized crime cases was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for illicit business deals that brought him $166,000 and jewelry.

Andrew S. Pitt, 39, of Agua Dulce, who had pleaded guilty in June to three felony counts, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Ronald Lew. Lew rejected a request from Pitt's attorney, Charles Wehner, for probation.

Noting the many times that Pitt had appeared before him as an assistant U.S. attorney, Lew said Monday that there was "no justification" for his crimes. Court documents indicate that Pitt received some money from a confidential source and more money and the jewels from felons who turned government informants.

The case is believed to mark the first time an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles has been charged with or convicted of a crime. Federal prosecutors in other cities have been convicted of felonies.





Prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section in Washington brought the case against Pitt. A spokesman declined Monday to comment.

The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, Nora Manella, also declined to comment. In June, she issued a statement saying she was "appalled" by Pitt's "indefensible" conduct.

Pitt pleaded guilty June 4 to two counts of wire fraud and one count of engaging in a conflict of interest. The charges stem from illegal business transactions Pitt conducted while he was an assistant U.S. attorney handling organized crime cases in Los Angeles.

According to court documents, Pitt reaped $33,000 from an illegal stock transaction in 1993 involving a confidential source in Toronto.

In separate transactions, documents indicate, he accepted $98,000 in 1994 from one informant and $35,000 in 1995 from another. The former had been convicted of bank fraud in Texas, the latter of securities fraud in Georgia.

The Georgia informant also gave Pitt a sapphire and diamond tennis bracelet worth $800 and a cut diamond valued at $1,500, court records indicate.

Court records also reveal that Pitt recommended that the informant in Texas receive probation instead of prison time. He asked for postponement of a prison reporting date for the informant in Georgia.

Pitt, a graduate of DePaul University Law School in Chicago, joined the Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force in Los Angeles in 1988 after working as a deputy district attorney and in private practice. The strike force was incorporated into the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles in 1989.

Pitt was suspended in 1995 and had been on paid leave while prosecutors from the Public Integrity Section investigated allegations against him.

Pitt submitted his resignation May 30, just days before entering the three guilty pleas. Lew ordered Monday that Pitt report to prison Jan. 12.

In a separate matter, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Pitt of making false public statements designed to artificially boost stock prices of a small company he controlled, Conectisys Corp. The agency alleges it was for years a shell company with no assets.