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Marketing Expert, Former Ohio State University Professor to Report to Prison

Posted on: Monday, 9 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By Barnet D. Wolf, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Jan. 7--Former Ohio State University professor Roger D. Blackwell is expected to report to federal prison Jan. 17 after his last-ditch appeal to remain free on bail was rejected yesterday by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court in Cincinnati.

One of Blackwell's attorneys said the marketing expert has been told by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to report to the correctional institution in Morgantown, W.Va., a minimum-security facility that houses male inmates.

U.S. District Judge James L. Graham sentenced Blackwell Dec. 15 to six years in prison and ordered him to pay a $1 million fine.

Graham initially ordered Blackwell to report to prison Jan. 9, but the appellate court revised the date to no earlier than Jan. 17.

The circuit court's three-judge panel ruled unanimously that Blackwell ''has not demonstrated that his appeal raises a substantial... issue that would require his release on bail pending appeal.'' The court did order an expedited hearing into his appeal. Normally, an appeal can take more than a year, but the panel is looking to receive written arguments by Feb. 15, Blackwell attorney William C. Wilkinson said. Arguments are expected sometime after April.

Federal prosecutors could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Blackwell, also an author, speaker and consultant, was convicted June 20 of 19 criminal counts, including insider trading, in connection with Kellogg Co.'s 1999 acquisition of Worthington Foods Inc.

The former professor was a director of Worthington Foods at the time.

Blackwell was charged with tipping friends and family members about the deal, allowing them to buy stock in the company and make more than $900,000 in profits when shares soared once the deal was announced publicly.

Two others, Kelley Hughes, who was the office manager for Blackwell's private business, and her husband, Kevin Stacy, also were convicted in the case and were sentenced to lesser prison terms and smaller fines. Both have appealed.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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K,

Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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