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by Mike Caswell

Jeffrey Turino, one of the accused in the massive CMKM Diamonds Inc. fraud, has pleaded guilty, as expected. The former Florida resident entered the plea in an appearance on Monday, Aug. 22, before Judge Jennifer Dorsey. In addition to pleading guilty he has agreed to a $35-million forfeiture order. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The judge set his sentencing for Nov. 28, 2016.

Unfortunately for Mr. Turino, the judge did not let him out of jail, as he had requested. She deferred that decision to a separate hearing on Friday. While the ruling is an unfortunate one for Mr. Turino, he will likely have his freedom soon enough. His plea agreement includes a sentence recommendation of five years, which is almost equal to the time he has served in jail awaiting trial. (He has been in custody since his Sept. 11, 2010, arrest in the Netherlands.) Assuming he receives credit for good behaviour, he will have served his sentence and more. He could still have to appear at the CMKM trial, however. As part of his plea agreement, he has agreed that he will fully co-operate with prosecutors, with that co-operation to include testimony.

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