Tuesday, September 20, 2005

A Montreal soybean product promoter whose bizarre bribery case made headlines across the United States vowed yesterday to sue the U.S. government for malicious prosecution after a federal judge acquitted him in an alleged kickback scheme.

Yank Barry, a former singer and music producer who ran Montreal-based

VitaPro Foods Inc. before the meat substitute maker crumbled under the weight of his legal troubles, said he's thrilled that he's been cleared on charges of money-laundering and bribery of a former head of prisons in Texas.

"I'm happy I'm vindicated," he said by phone from his home in the Bahamas, where he now lives.

"How I'd like it to end truthfully is that hopefully, I can make somebody pay."

"I learned one good lesson out of this: if you haven't got a lot of money and a lot of powerful friends who don't run for cover, you're toast, it's over."

Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who promoted VitaPro's products, was among those who came to Barry's defence after he was arraigned in U.S. Federal Court in 1999 on corruption charges.

Prosecutors alleged that Barry paid a bribe of $20,000 U.S. to James Andy Collins, then head of Texas prisons, to secure a $33.7-million deal allowing VitaPro to supply Texas inmates with its meat substitute.

A jury convicted both Barry and Collins in 2001 after deliberating for about an hour. But two weeks ago, a federal judge took the unusual step of overturning the conviction.

Judge Lynn Hughes said the government's case against Collins and Barry was too weak, noting that the star witness was "a felon, a thief, a cheat, and a liar," with no credibility.

A sizeable chunk of testimony in the case, both written and taped, has mysteriously vanished.

Barry and Collins could be tried again, if the judge's decision is overturned on appeal. Nancy Herrera, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston, said her office has filed a notice of intent to appeal the judge's decision. She said a final decision to proceed will come after legal options are discussed with the office of the solicitor general in D.C.

Barry, whose original name is Gerard Barry Falovitch, yesterday cast himself as a victim, a "Jewish, white Canadian with a black, Muslim partner" selling a meat replacement in Texas, the cattle capital of the world. He said state cattlemen pressured then- governor George W. Bush to push VitaPro out. When Barry resisted, he said he found himself indicted.

Barry said he still owns property in Montreal, visits several times a year, and contributes to local food drives. He said he's working on real-estate development in the Bahamas.