Convicted Fla. man asks for video sentencing

Attorney says client, 49, is in declining health

8/11/2014

A Florida man who admitted he conspired to defraud investors in the sale of Iraqi currency says he is too ill to come to Toledo to be sentenced next month.

In a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Rudolph Coenen asked Judge Jack Zouhary to allow him to be sentenced by video from Florida because of his “significant medical problems.”

Coenen, 49, and three Toledo-area businessmen were indicted in 2012 on charges they conspired to dupe investors in the currency known as dinar, as well as placements in nonexistent hedge funds.

Coenen, owner of Bayshore Capital Investments LLC in Jacksonville, pleaded guilty in 2013 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and five counts of money laundering. As part of a plea agreement, he agreed to testify against co-defendants Michael Teadt, Charles Emmenecker, and Bradford Huebner at their trials in May.

Huebner, 66, of Ottawa Hills and Emmenecker, 67, of Sylvania, each were convicted by a jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in connection with the $24 million scheme. Huebner also was found guilty of 30 counts of structuring, nine counts of money laundering, and one count of mail fraud.

The jury acquitted Teadt, 67, of Maumee of conspiracy, wire fraud, and other charges, but found him guilty of one count of mail fraud for a matter unrelated to the investment scheme.

In Coenen’s request to be sentenced by video, his attorney, Donna Grill, said Coenen “is a liver transplant patient with several medical issues, including uncontrolled diabetes and severe neuropathy.

“Mr. Coenen’s health has continued to deteriorate during the pendency of this case, and he has been hospitalized on several occasions, including several instances after his court appearance in the trial of Brad Huebner in May of 2014,” Ms. Grill said.

She said although sentencing hearings are not normally held by video conference, she cited one case in which Judge David Katz appeared by video from Florida to conduct the sentencing of the defendant in Toledo.

Michael Tobin, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, had no comment on the unusual request.

Coenen is to be sentenced Sept. 24. Huebner and Emmenecker are to be sentenced Sept. 30. Teadt’s hearing is set for Sept. 23.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.