Tuesday, May 6, 2008 3:07 PM CDT
Cochonour accused of leading 'conspiracy' of bankers, lawyers
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
EAST ST. LOUIS — They really are making a federal case out of it.
A lawsuit filed under the provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act last week in U.S. District Court alleged that an ensemble of area attorneys and financial officers participated in a “conspiracy” masterminded by former judge Robert Cochonour.
He “was the leader and primary architect of this enterprise, and (the defendants) contributed their professional skills and positions of influence in helping to defraud (the plaintiffs) of money, property and intangible rights,” said the two-count lawsuit filed Friday by the beneficiaries of a wealthy Greenup businessman, his mother and a retired Clark County schoolteacher — all of whom are now deceased.
The lawsuit does not seek a specific monetary amount; rather, it asks for “compensatory and treble damages, costs and attorneys fees and such other relief the court deems proper and just.”
Although the Cochonour saga has been in the public eye since 2002 — when Cochonour resigned as Cumberland County resident judge amidst allegations of wrongdoing — this lawsuit is the first action taken in federal court by the Jay E. Hayden Foundation and the estates of Martha Hayden and R. Maurine Johnson against a larger group of alleged conspirators.
Until now, the lengthy legal battle has been waged primarily in probate court and state civil court in Cumberland County, and more recently in federal bankruptcy court. There has been one state criminal trial in the Cochonour controversy: The ex-judge was acquitted of forgery in December 2005.
Cochonour also was incarcerated for about two years following a plea deal brokered in early 2003 with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. The former judge admitted to stealing from Jay Hayden’s estate, which Cochonour had overseen since Hayden’s death in 1985.
“This case may last longer than the Iraq war, depending on who wins the election,” said Cochonour’s former attorney, Rick Halprin of Chicago, referring to the new federal lawsuit.
Defendants include: Toledo-based First Neighbor Bank and employees Carol Jo Fritts, Bradley Fitch and June Hayden; Charleston attorney William A. “Tony” Sunderman; Toledo attorney John Cutright; Mattoon attorney Ralph Glenn; Mt. Vernon attorney Morris Lane Harvey; Edward Jones company; and broker Dwight Erskine of Effingham County.
The defendants or their attorneys either did not return calls or declined to comment because they had not seen the latest lawsuit.
Neither Cochonour nor his two brothers, Joe and Don, are named as defendants because they all remain under bankruptcy protection, according to Naperville attorney Fred Roth, counsel for the plaintiffs.
The Hayden foundation and two estates hired St. Louis attorneys David B.B. Helfrey and Douglas P. Roller, along with Roth, to represent them in the federal lawsuit.
Both Helfrey and Roller are veteran U.S. attorneys; in fact, Roller prosecuted alleged Chicago mob boss Joseph “The Clown” Lombardo, who now is a client of Halprin’s.
“It looks like a huge scatter gun of allegations, and it’s really hard in my mind to tie it together,” Halprin said of the new lawsuit.
The lawsuit says from 1985 Cochonour and the defendants “stole hundreds of thousands of dollars” from the estates of Jay Hayden and Martha Hayden, plus R. (Maurine) Johnson and Mary Johnson, and others.
The suit says the defendants and the three Cochonour brothers “constituted a group of persons associated together for the common purpose of carrying out the fraudulent and illegal acts.”
The lawsuit says First Neighbor Bank and the three named employees knew Cochonour was converting funds that belonged to others and helped Cochonour concealing his actions.
The lawsuit also states attorneys Cutright, Sunderman, Glenn and Harvey “as counsel to the bank and others, assisted Cochonour by preparing false legal and other documents and making misrepresentations in court and other places.”
And Erskine and Edward Jones allegedly allowed Cochonour to convert money belonging to Martha Hayden and R. Maurine Johnson and Mary Johnson.
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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