8B  |  Friday, July 11, 2008 | St. Petersburg Times  * * * *

 van said he did it because he wasdesperate. His wife was unem-

57 monthsfor data thief

.   SENTENCINGcontinued from 1B

have talked about today’s meet-

ing, Angel’s representatives this week performed their own disap-

pearing act. Contacted Wednes-day, they said they would call

right back. They never did. They 

also didn’t return calls Thursday. Asked about the secrecy, Mayor

Frank Hibbard said, “They don’t

like divulging what they’re doingfor preparation purposes.

“They don’t want people watching the process, watching

 what they do,” he said.

Hibbard, who has long wantedthe rundown building removed,

said he is not concerned with the

methods, only the results.“All I care about is that the

Spyglass disappears,” he said.“Whether it’s a bulldozer, dyna-

mite or an illusionist, it better

disappear.”City officials say they aren’t

quite sure how the Clearwatermade the list of cities the enter-

tainer is considering. They only 

know an A&E producer con-tacted them about it recently.

The show would reimburse

any city costs to stage the event,city spokesman Doug Matthews

said. He said he understandsthat A&E wants to start promot-

ing the show’s fourth season in

the next week or so. “It would be extraordinary 

publicity because it’s a popularshow,” Matthews said. “To do it

live and feature Clearwater and

the new BeachWalk and all thethings we’re doing — you can’t

put a price on that.”

Times researcher Caryn Baird con-

tributed to this report. Mike Donila

can be reached at mdonila@sptimes.

com or (727) 445-4160.

.    BIOGRAPHY

Criss Angel(Christopher Sarantakos)

Age:40.

Residence:Las Vegas.

Career:Learned his firstmagic trick from his auntat age 6. Performed at par-ties and restaurants, a localcable TV show and sometelevision specials beforestaging 600 off-Broadwayperformances in New York.Then createdCriss Angel Mindfreak , which debutedin July 2005. Last seasonthe show attracted 2.7-million viewers. Also hasappeared on late-night talkshows, Larry King, OprahandCSI: New York .

Quote:“I consider myself anartist who uses many differ-ent paintbrushes to createthe image I want, whetherit’s using illusions, magic,mentalism, hypnosis,escapes, performance artor music.” (Chicago Tribune, Aug. 6, 2006)

From the front page>  tampabay.com for the latest news

 Will he

survive

the blast?

.   MINDFREAKcontinued from 1B

tified that Merola was visibly agitated and ver- bally abusive to Parco.

Parco told the court Merola said she hopedhe was Christian because he was “pure evil and

going to hell.”

Merola did not testify, and the defense did notpresent any witnesses.

Sue Cushell, whose daughter videotaped the

arrest, said Parco was very calm throughout theordeal.

Merola, on the other hand, “wagged her fin-ger in his face and gave him a piece of her mind,”

Cushell said.

McDonald’s shift manager Sarah Curtis saidshe had to deliver food for nearly an hour to

stuck patrons. And it took her two tries to get

Merola to take her unsalted fries.Police Cpl. Carl Conyers said he advised Parco

to arrest Merola, despite his repeated attemptsto defuse the situation.

“He did not want to take her to jail,” Conyers

said.Parco was later cleared by police supervisors

of any policy violation in the way he handledMerola’s arrest.

But in May, Parco resigned from the Police

Department during an internal affairs investi-gation of allegations that he behaved inappro-

priately March 29 when responding to a child-

custody call. Witnesses told investigators that he offered a 

15-year-old girl chewing tobacco, fired his Taserinto his cruiser windshield to demonstrate how 

it worked and showed the teen a computer video

of a cow being Tasered. He denied doing thosethings, but electronic usage logs on the com-

puter and Taser indicated otherwise.Defense attorney Steven Andrews said he and

Merola learned a lot throughout the trial and

felt sorry for Parco in the end.“There’s no winners here,” Andrews said.

 After the verdict, Merola said little herself and

 was cut off by her attorney several times whenshe began to speak.

.   FRIES continued from 1B

French frygrandmotheris acquitted

In late 2005, a Tampa jury acquitted

him on eight of the charges and dead-

locked on nine others. In May 2006, Al-Arian accepted a plea agreement

for helping associates of a terroristorganization with nonviolent activi-

ties. He finished serving his 57-month

sentence in April.Under the terms of the plea deal,

 Al-Arian would have been deported“expeditiously” as soon as the sen-

tence was done, but a federal prosecu-

tor in Virginia wanted him to testify  before a grand jury investigating an

Islamic think tank in Herndon, Va. Al-

 Arian refused, saying it violated theterms of his plea agreement.

   Al-Arian’s trial on the criminalcontempt charges is scheduled for

mid August. If found guilty, he could

remain in prison for years.   Al-Arian’s attorney, Jonathan

Turley, said, “The government has

painted itself into a corner with Dr. Al-Arian. … Either it must release him

on bond or deport him very soon.” What “soon” means is not clear.

  Arturo Rios Jr., a St. Petersburg

lawyer specializing in immigrationissues, said it’s not uncommon for a 

 judge to grant bail and then for immi-gration officials to take custody of an

individual.

Once Al-Arian is in the custody of ICE, authorities will have 48 hours

to give him a notice to appear, which

Rios described as a summons to beginthe deportation process. He said

deportation could happen within 60days from that point or take up to a 

 year, depending on the case.

In a separate order from Al-Ari-an’s conditions of release, which

include him posting $340,000 he hasin his retirement pension, U.S. Dis-

trict Judge Leonie Brinkema said

that ICE has filed an immigrationdetainer with the U.S. Marshal Ser-

 vice. Brinkema ordered that once Al-

 Arian posts bail, he must be releasedinto the custody of ICE. Officials are to

make Al-Arian available for all hear-

ings in his criminal case.

 After court Thursday, Turley calledthe contempt case is “a ruse.” Al-Arian

has spoken with prosecutors aboutthe think tank and has even agreed to

take a polygraph test. What the pros-

ecutors really want, said Turley, is Al- Arian to answer questions about the

Florida case, “which is a clear viola-

tion of the plea agreement.” Prosecutors in Virginia could not

 be reached for comment.Linda Moreno, who represented

 Al-Arian at his 2005 trial, cheered

the judge’s ruling. “I’m so happy thatJudge Brinkema restores the confi-

dence that Americans are due in oursystem of justice,” she said.

 Becky Steele, regional director for

the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said the judge appears to be

holding the executive branch account-

able.“The heartening thing for me here

is that the system seems to be working

and that the judge is making an inde-

pendent assessment of what seems to be persecution by the government,”

Steele said.But lawyer Eddie Suarez said he

doesn’t think the ruling does much.

“At the end of the day, I’m not sure we’ve accomplished a whole lot,”

Suarez said. “He’ll still be held on

these immigration issues.”If Al-Arian is released on bond, his

 wife, Nahla, 47, said she and two of her children will return from Cairo to

the United States to reunite with her

husband and their three other chil-dren.

 On the other hand, the family will wait to reunite in Cairo if Al-Arian is

deported soon.

“Either way, it looks as if we willfinally be a family again,” Nahla said.

  Meg Laughlin can be reached at 

mlaughlin@sptimes.com.

MEG LAUGHLIN | Times

Nahla Al-Arian and Leena Al-Arian, Sami Al-Arian’s wife and daughter,who live in Cairo, react with joy to a federal judge granting bond.

.   ALARIAN continued from 1B

Judge grants Al-Arian bail

ployed and he had no money inhis 401(k), he said.

“I (in) no way intended to cause

anybody any grief or hardship,”Sullivan said in

court. “Every 

  week it hap-pened, I regret-

ted it … but itdidn’t stop me

from doing it.”

Sullivan’sactions caused

Cer tegy tonotify about

8.4-million Americans — includ-

ing 460,000 Floridians — thattheir data had been methodically 

stolen over a five-year period.

Seven class-action lawsuitsresulted, and six remain, which

are in various stages of being set-tled, Palermo said.

The people who sued Certegy 

over their information being soldhave won a judgment for attor-

neys’ fees of about $2.35-million,according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said victims

included residents of all 50 states,the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico

and military personnel overseas.

Sullivan