Debtor's Prison

From his perch on the fringe of the American political spectrum, Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. has accused Queen Elizabeth II of drug trafficking and blamed the International Monetary Fund for creating and spreading the AIDS virus. Henry Kissinger and Walter Mondale, among others, have earned spots on his list of Communist spies. But last week LaRouche gave his conspiracy theories a more personal and self-aggrandizing touch. In an Alexandria, Va., courtroom, he declared that as a result of his conviction last month on fraud charges, "the vital interests of the United States have been put in jeopardy." A four-time presidential candidate on small-party tickets, he accused the Government of waging a campaign to "eliminate" him from the political scene.

"Arrant nonsense," retorted U.S. District Judge Albert V. Bryan. He proceeded to sentence LaRouche, 66, to 15 years in prison for evading taxes and swindling his political contributors out of $30 million in loans. Six LaRouche associates also received prison sentences of three to five years and fines of $6,000 to $11,000. Soon afterward, federal prosecutors in Boston dropped obstruction of justice charges against LaRouche. Four years of investigations into the financial shenanigans of the LaRouche movement had come to an end. "This is not a political case," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kent Robinson. "This was a case of theft."

A former computer operator and onetime Marxist who moved to the far right in the mid-1970s, LaRouche has been living in luxury on an estate near Leesburg, Va., where heavily armed guards watch for would-be assassins. His followers set up tables in airports to solicit contributions and sell books and magazines whose extreme views are disguised by innocuous titles like Executive Intelligence Review. Believing that LaRouche's goals justified his means, others borrowed millions from supporters, knowing the money would never be returned. Judge Bryan refused to grant LaRouche bail pending appeal, and dispatched him to an Alexandria jail in handcuffs. If his sentence is upheld, LaRouche will have to serve at least five years in prison. He has declared himself an innocent victim of Soviet sympathizers in the top tiers of U.S. Government. His enemies, he said, would kill him behind bars.