McNall’s Time Has Arrived

The man who once outbid Aristotle Onassis and Valery Giscard d’Estaing for a famed coin and later became one of the most powerful figures in professional sports will complete a long, ignominious slide when he is expected to be sentenced today in federal court by U.S. District Judge Richard Paez.

It has been more than two years since former King owner Bruce McNall stood before Paez and entered a guilty plea to two counts of bank fraud and single counts of conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud six banks, one securities firm and the Kings of more than $236 million.

Since then, quite a bit has happened to McNall’s former holdings. The Kings landed in bankruptcy proceedings and were sold to Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz and a business partner. Wayne Gretzky was traded and left Los Angeles, and the Kings still haven’t made the playoffs.

As for sentencing, barring another continuance, federal prosecutors are recommending a maximum prison sentence of eight years and restitution of $26.7 million. The actual sentence imposed by Paez could be less, subject to his discretion. Ten other McNall associates have pleaded guilty--none yet sentenced--in what was described by the government as a 10-year crime spree.

Three others were indicted in October 1995 and are scheduled to go to trial Feb. 4, but one of them, Steve Nesenblatt, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of wire fraud Wednesday.

The trial had been one of the main reasons for the delay in sentencing. McNall, however, was not going to be called as a witness, which is why the government wanted to have him sentenced.

McNall was asked by his attorneys not to give any interviews before sentencing. But a glimpse of the recent legal developments involving McNall is offered in court papers obtained by The Times.

In a December letter to Paez, McNall said his own “hubris” made him believe he was infallible: “. . . I am so sorry for what has happened, I can barely find the words to describe my feelings. There have been a number of victims in this case, some less obvious than others. In addition to the institutions themselves that have been affected, it has no doubt caused problems for some of the employees of those banks as well. They believed in me and I let them down.”

According to McNall in a pre-sentencing report, he has future employment prospects, including a job in franchise management offered to him by Clipper owner Donald Sterling. The Clippers had no comment.

Also among the documents are recent letters of support from family members as well as former Kings Gretzky and Luc Robitaille, and others. More letters were sent to McNall’s defense counsel before he entered his guilty plea.

Wrote Gretzky: “. . . I know Bruce regrets the actions that led to his current situation. I do not think he ever wanted to hurt people, and the fact that he did weighs on him. The manic humor and bravado that used to be Bruce McNall’s trademark have all but vanished.”

One area of heated contention was a December motion by McNall’s lawyer, Tom Pollack, asking the court to consider McNall’s psychological impairment as a basis for a downward departure, a reduction in sentencing. Pollack submitted a history of McNall’s personal background, detailing a traumatic childhood and an abusive father, gleaned from interviews of McNall and other family members. He also pointed out that the Ninth Circuit stated where a defendant’s ability to make reasoned judgments is impaired, the extent of that impairment should be considered in sentencing.

“McNall operated in a childlike manner, trying to please those around him in order to get the love and affection he sought as a child but never got,” Pollack wrote. “In fact, McNall had a great difficulty operating effectively as a businessman in the adult world and lived in constant fear of being found out. “

The argument was flatly dismissed by government lawyers, who wrote: “Perhaps no basis for departure articulated by defendant McNall is as offensive as his claim that an alleged psychological impairment forced him to commit over a quarter of a billion dollars in fraud. Defendant McNall has now adopted the ‘abuse excuse’ as a contributing rationale to his 10 years of criminal activity. Rather, greed and self-aggrandizement are the more likely culprits.”