Ex-student to be released on bail

Will be confined to house arrest He left just as he entered, wearing a tan prison uniform and handcuffs instead of the Brooks Brothers blazer that his mother insisted his lawyers bring for him. There was only one difference: as Alexander Moskovits was escorted out of the courtroom Friday by U.S. marshals, he had a smile on his face. After six years in prison, Moskovits, a former Wharton student and convicted drug trafficker, will be released on bail tomorrow pending a new trial, Federal District Court Judge Louis Pollack ordered Friday. U.S. attorneys are considering appealing Pollack's decision to grant bail. An appeal could delay and ultimately prevent Moskovits' release. In 1988, Moskovits was convicted on 18 federal drug counts for trafficking 50 kilograms of cocaine, but Pollack gave him a new trial this summer since his original trial lawyer failed to provide him with effective counsel. Pollack, who had denied Moskovits bail twice before, freed the 29-year-old on a $300,000 bail bond and confined him to house arrest in his mother's Miami condominium. He will wear an electronic monitoring device and report in person to the federal court in Miami seven days a week. His passport will be taken away, as well. Moskovits' lawyers, Miami attorney Scott Srebnick and famed New York civil rights lawyer William Kunstler suggested these conditions, which Srebnick described as an extremely restrictive set of requirements. Kunstler, who has received recent notoriety for representing several alleged World Trade Center bombers, said the conditions for release were "too strict," but Moskovits will accept them in order leave prison for the first time since 1987. The government opposed Moskovits' bail under any conditions because he represents "a danger to the community and a significant risk of flight," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Hayes said. Hayes argued that Pollack denied Moskovits bail in 1987 because he had "participated in violence against persons and property," and there was no evidence "to indicate that Alex Moskovits is today any different than he was back in 1987." But Pollack, displaying his trademark behavior of standing and pacing behind the bench, said in his decision that the court is in no position to judge whether Moskovits has changed. Hayes also argued that Moskovits currently has more incentive to flee than he did in 1987. Kunstler called the argument "ridiculous" since Moskovits had turned down a government plea bargain that would have allowed him to walk out of the courthouse a free man. Pollack said the danger Moskovits poses to society and his risk of flight are "significantly reduced." While Pollack previously denied Moskovits bail pending a new trial on the grounds that the conditions of his release were not restrictive enough, Pollack said Friday he was "reasonably confident" that Moskovits would not flee or be a threat to the community. "I consider that the substantially more stringent conditions in [Moskovits' bail proposal] are, in my judgment, sufficient to protect against risk of flight or danger to the community or himself," Pollack said, as Moskovits grinned. "I am prepared to approve release." After the decision, Hayes asked Pollack to delay his order so she could discuss the possibility of appeal with her office. But Pollack denied the request, saying that due to the time required to fill out the necessary paper work, Moskovits could not be released until Tuesday – ample time for the government to consider appeal. Hayes had no comment on the judge's decision. "We're obviously exhilarated by" the decision, Kunstler said. He said this would let Moskovits think about his options, which include a possible government plea bargain. Moskovits' bail hearing almost did not happen, though. Scheduled for 10 a.m., it was delayed for hours as the government tried to work out a deal with Moskovits and his lawyers. Moskovits, who has always maintained his innocence, refused a deal in which would he waive his right to a new trial and plead no contest to federal drug charges in exchange for time served. It was often hard to tell who was the lawyer and who was client, as Moskovits surprised his attorneys by offering his own deal: He would plead guilty to two counts of misprison of felony – knowing about a felony and not reporting it – in exchange for his release. The government attorney eventually refused the offer, and the bail hearing was rescheduled for 2 p.m. Often Kunstler and Srebnick seemed to lose patience with Moskovits, who would interrupt the lawyers as they negotiated, interjecting legal facts he felt pertinent to his case. Kunstler denied that Moskovits' outspoken behavior might harm his case. "When you have an outspoken, competent client who has studied the law for five to six years and has convinced himself that he doesn't deserve to be where he is, then he is the ideal client," Kunstler said. "In this case, [Moskovits] seems to be in command, not only of us but of the [government] as well." As he left the courtroom, Moskovits said he was happy and, with only one course left for the completion of his Wharton degree, he said he hopes to become a lawyer. "I'm thinking of Berkeley," he said as U.S. marshals led him out.