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Judge sets new trial hearing

By PAUL DE LA GARZA
Published June 9, 2006

TAMPA - A federal judge will hear a request July 6 to set aside the guilty verdict of retired Army Col. Tom Spellissy or grant him a new trial.

Spellissy and his Clearwater company, Strategic Defense International Inc., were convicted last month of bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud.

U.S. District Judge James Whittemore set sentencing Aug. 14.

Before retiring last year, Spellissy helped arm special operations forces at MacDill Air Force Base. After retiring, he worked as a defense consultant.

Spellissy was convicted of paying $4,500 in bribes to William Burke, a private contractor at SOCom. In exchange, prosecutors said Burke gave preferential treatment for his clients in the defense industry.

Burke pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Spellissy, but he changed his story at trial.

Burke testified he and Spellissy did nothing illegal. He said he pleaded guilty to spare his family and that investigators pressured him to plead guilty.

Burke's supervisor testified he found no evidence any projects were influenced as a result of any arrangement between Burke and Spellissy.

But in an e-mail to Spellissy, Burke said he had been instrumental in securing more than $10-million for Spellissy's potential clients.

In a motion asking Whittemore to set the verdicts aside or grant a new trial, defense attorneys said no reasonable jury could find the government proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

"While it is universally acknowledged that juries sometimes get it wrong, it is still a truism that bears repeating. Juries sometimes get it wrong," the defense motion said.

In response, the government argued the evidence was sufficient to sustain the verdicts.

Spellissy, 49, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

[Last modified June 9, 2006, 05:41:35]