Charged with a federal crime? Don’t start packing bags for beach resort vacation

When people are charged with federal crimes, they tend to lay low and save money for legal fees and other expenses, attorneys say.

But every now and then, a defendant will want to book a flight to a tropical island resort. Whether a judge will approve it often depends on a number of factors, including the judge, the defendant and whether or not the accused is still presumed innocent, according to a couple of recent North Texas cases.

But federal defendants probably shouldn’t start packing their bags anytime soon. Legal experts say vacation request approvals are rare.

Midland flower shop owner Jenny Cudd recently made national headlines when she asked a federal judge for permission to travel to Mexico while awaiting trial on charges of storming the U.S. Capitol during the violent January insurrection. Shock turned to outrage when a Washington, D.C., judge approved her request in February.

But Cudd’s attorney pointed out that it was a prearranged work trip and her client is only charged with misdemeanor offenses.

Seizing upon that development, Kevin and Sabrina Kuykendall asked a Dallas federal judge days later if he would approve their request to celebrate Kevin’s 57th birthday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The couple are charged in a multi-million dollar health care fraud case, accused of paying themselves kickbacks.

“For the past 15 years, with the exception of last year due to Covid-19 and this indictment, Kevin has traveled to Cabo San Lucas on or around his birthday,” his attorney, Ashlee McFarlane, wrote in the motion. “This year, the two of them respectfully request to resume this tradition.”

McFarlane mentioned the Cudd case in her motion. The prosecutor opposed it, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez on March 11 gave the order that sent the couple on their way to a week-long bash on the Mexican beach resort.

Wade Barker had no such luck when he proposed a week-long trip to Hawaii just days before his sentencing in the Forest Park Medical Center bribery and kickback case. The Dallas prosecutor in that case did not object, nor did Barker’s pretrial officer. But U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary wrote in his order that the request, coming on the eve of sentencing, was inappropriate.

“The requested travel potentially jeopardizes defendant’s scheduled sentencing and, perhaps more importantly, is unwise given the restitution and money judgment defendant faces,” the judge wrote in his Feb. 9 order.

Barker, a bariatric surgeon and co-founder of the now-defunct Dallas hospital, was sentenced on March 18 to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay almost $83 million in restitution.

Brian Poe, a former federal prosecutor who is now a defense attorney in Fort Worth, said most of his clients after being charged “go into hunker down mode” and don’t want to be out and about. But others, he said, may need to continue working to provide for their family and pay their legal bills; and travel may be part of the job.

Those defendants should let the court know about that from the start, he said.

Federal defendants often request permission to travel to attend a funeral or wedding or to visit a sick relative.

“It’s rare for me to have somebody want to go on a vacation,” Poe said. “I tend to talk the clients out of it, just because of the perception.”

Another factor, he said, is the defendant’s original conditions of release imposed by the judge. Those restrictions vary from district to district, Poe said.

“Some judges for whatever reason don’t have any travel restrictions on a defendant,” he said, which allows them to travel within the U.S. Other times it’s restricted to Texas or to the Northern District of Texas, Poe said.

Request granted

The Kuykendalls and others are accused of funneling illegal kickbacks to themselves through a “sham employment agreement” involving Medoc Health Services. They face up to 35 years in prison if convicted. The couple have denied the charges and are awaiting a trial.

McFarlane said they had already traveled across the country for their businesses while on bond and are in “the lowest category of risk.”

“They are presumed innocent and their goal is to clear and restore their good names,” she wrote.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Bunch wrote in his response that the couple were already given “extremely lenient” travel restrictions and that a “purely personal trip” did not justify allowing them to leave the U.S.

“They offer no reason why they are unable to enjoy Mr. Kuykendall’s 57th birthday at one of the many places within the continental United States where they can travel without a United States passport,” Bunch said.

Another case cited by the Kuykendalls in their request involved a Las Vegas businessman charged with bribery who was allowed to travel to Mexico for a business meeting.

Gamal Abdelaziz, a former hotel and casino executive, is accused of paying $300,000 to get his daughter into the University of Southern California. He is among about 50 others who are charged in the large college admissions bribery scandal, including parents, coaches and Hollywood actresses.

His attorney told the judge in a motion that it was “necessary for Mr. Abdelaziz to occasionally travel to visit potential hotel sites and to meet with business partners.”

But Bunch said Abdelaziz is allowed occasional international travel for business purposes only, not for a birthday party. The prosecutor said the Dallas kickback scheme resulted in millions of dollars in losses for the government, which “the Kuykendalls would be ordered to pay as restitution.”

In her order, Ramirez required the Kuykendalls to provide their itinerary to their pretrial services officer in advance and check in with the officer at least once during the trip. The judge also ordered the couple to turn in their passports when they returned to Dallas.

Rejected

Barker’s attorney, Mark Werbner, said travel requests are typically granted when the government and the pretrial supervisor don’t object but that his client’s case was a little different.

“The lengthy period from trial to sentencing was the thing that made the judge disinclined to approve it,” he said. “He [the judge] was frustrated with all the delay that occurred. So he was not in the mood to send people on a Hawaiian vacation.”

Werbner said judges are more flexible about defendant travel when there hasn’t been a finding of guilt. His client thought his request was a tough ask “given its proximity to sentencing,” he said.

“I think he took it in stride,” Werbner said, adding that Barker was more concerned about his sentencing hearing.

Barker, who was convicted at trial, has not yet been given a date to report to federal prison.

Poe said that when he was a prosecutor he would usually not object to a defendant’s travel request as long as it was within the U.S. When people are on pretrial release, it means a judge has determined that they are not a flight risk nor a danger to the community, he said. And in federal white-collar cases, defendants are usually released prior to trial without too many restrictions, he said.

But if someone wanted to leave the country, Poe would defer to the court. “It was always rare for me to see someone get a vacation outside the country granted,” he said.

A client “better have a good reason” for such a request, Poe said. And even then, lots of “backstops” are usually added to make sure the person didn’t try to flee, he said. Hawaii is so far away, it could almost be considered foreign travel, Poe said.

Two other businessmen in white-collar fraud cases also recently had their beach vacation plans shot down by federal judges.

William Meek, a former Celadon Group executive, had wanted to spend his 40th birthday on a Mexican beach with family and friends while he awaits trial on securities and accounting fraud charges. Meek, who has pleaded not guilty, said he had booked and paid for the trip prior to his arrest and that his pretrial services officer did not object.

But an Indiana judge in August denied the request, saying it was “not advisable” because “international travel generally increases the risk of flight.” U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson also said in her order that Meek’s birthday wasn’t “the sort of extraordinary event” that justified such a risk.

Prosecutors in the case didn’t think Meek should be allowed to spend a week at an adults-only beachfront resort in Playa Del Carmen when he is facing significant prison.

“Turning 40 is not a milestone that justifies any additional risk posed by international travel,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Linder. “His purpose for obtaining his passport and traveling internationally is nothing more than to party with his friends in Mexico.”

Similarly, a Georgia federal judge in November 2019 denied a defendant’s request to fly to Grand Cayman Island to spend Thanksgiving with his family at a resort condominium.

Todd Chrisley, who is accused along with his wife of bank and wire fraud and tax evasion, said in his motion that the government and the pretrial services officer did not oppose his request.

But Magistrate Judge Janet F. King wrote that the requested travel outside the U.S. did not “present extraordinary circumstances.”

Chrisley and his wife, Julie, are the stars of the reality television show Chrisley Knows Best. They were indicted in 2019, accused of defrauding banks by using fraud to obtain millions of dollars in loans and not paying federal taxes on what they earned. The couple have denied the allegations and are awaiting trial.

Todd Chrisley’s attorney, Bruce Howard Morris, said in an email that his client decided not to appeal the judge’s decision.