HOUSTON- A man whose friends call a brilliant inventor and the Harris County DA's office calls a con man was in court on a bond hearing Thursday.
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April 9, 2009
Dennis Joe Pharris was arrested 5 years ago and charged with forging checks. Pharris' then attorney, Dick Deguerin, managed to get his bond lowered from $2 million to $500,000. That was after he spent three years in jail awaiting trial.
Deguerin eventually dropped Pharris because he never got paid.
Now Pharris has been arrested again and charged with trying to pull off another con.
His attorney, Abraham Fisch, says Pharris is being targeted.
"They're trying to discredit this man because they don't want him to be successful, they don't want him...listen. A lot of things are happening in Harris County right now," he said.
Pharris' attorney, like his friends, says that Pharris had a vision from God while in jail the first time.
That vision was of cell-phone technology that Fisch claims AT&T has expressed interest in. It involves using a cell phone to purchase goods and services.
"It's worth, I can't even begin to tell you monetarily, but what it's going to do is revolutionize identity theft, fraud, it's a brilliant concept, yes," said Fisch.
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Prosecutors say Pharris used that idea to convince lenders to give him money for other projects.
They say that Pharris deposited checks in several banks, but convinced the banks to let him withdraw money before the checks cleared. They also say he shuffled $250,000 from bank to bank and then started depositing bad checks. They contend that Pharris took off with the money before the banks realized what was happening.
Pharris' attorney says it was all legitimate, but prosecutors told a judge it's a reason never to let Pharris out on bail, ever again.
Pharris' attorney says his client has a liver disease and is on the waiting list for a transplant. He says he's not getting the care he needs in jail and needs his bond reduced again.
Prosecutors wouldn't comment, but brought witnesses Thursday who said Pharris would be treated just fine in jail.
