The Nation - News from Dec. 1, 1987

A Galveston insurance heir was convicted of defrauding his family’s charitable foundation of nearly $1.5 million and faces up to 85 years in prison. A federal court jury in Houston deliberated 27 hours over five days before convicting Shearn Moody Jr. on all 17 counts of mail and wire fraud he faced. Co-defendant Howell Willis of Dallas was acquitted on the four charges he faced. Moody was accused of helping channel money from the Moody Foundation to organizations that otherwise would not have gotten grants, then receiving kickbacks to help pay his mounting legal expenses. Defense attorneys had contended Moody was duped by a con man, William R. Pabst, who is a fugitive. Moody, ousted earlier this year as Moody Foundation trustee, also could be fined as much as $4.5 million when he is sentenced Jan. 5. Moody’s lawyer, Marian Rosen, said she intends to appeal the conviction. Moody faces similar charges in a second indictment.