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NEW YORK - A federal jury isn't going to hear about Kathryn Gannon's former career as porn star Marylin Fox or as an exotic dancer, thanks to a federal judge's ruling. U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood says prosecutors can refer to her only as a dancer, model, and actress.
Wood - the same judge who was withdrawn as a U.S. Attorney General nominee in 1993 over questions about Social Security taxes for her domestic help - essentially ruled Gannon's old career wasn't relevant to whether or not affairs with a high-powered investment banker and an industrialist included inside tips on bank mergers on which she traded stock profitably.
Gannon remains in seclusion in Vancouver with her fiancé, Michael Gillies, in a case where she's accused of bring part of an insider-trading scheme involving two former lovers, investment-banking executive James McDermott and industrialist Anthony Pomponio. The trial of McDermott and Pomponio is set to begin April 10.
Speaking through friends such as Adult Press Service president Marc Medoff, Gannon has maintained she wants to tell the entire story of the case which made headlines late last year, including suggestions that it may well run as something more than merely the ill-timed conjunction between one actress and two Wall Street wheeler-dealers. Medoff has also maintained Gannon wants to negotiate the proper way for her to return to the U.S. in the case, adding she's not a conscious criminal.
Gannon is accused of pocketing over $80,000, trading stocks based on advance bank merger information she received from McDermott. She's also accused of passing the information along to Pomponio, who likewise is said to have made over $80,000 as a result. McDermott resigned as head of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods last spring just before their initial public offering was to take place, allegedly when he learned he was a target of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
Court documents show prosecutors argue Gannon's life as a porn star raised questions as to whether McDermott, in essence, paid her for sex, and whether that was a key motive for passing her inside merger tips. The papers also show prosecutors thought it key to discuss how the insider trading caused the Keefe, Bruyette IPO cancellation.
But Wood agreed with McDermott's attorneys that Gannon's porn career was mostly irrelevant to anything she did or didn't do regarding inside trading. She also ruled evidence about the IPO might confuse the jury.
The Wood ruling may further Gannon's previously-stated desire to put her porn life behind her, but it comes a month after portions of that past were anthologized in a bid to help her defense. Marylin Whips Wall Street was released in late February, compiling scenes from such films as Starflash, Fantasies of Marylin, and Unchained Marylin. Video Team compiled the anthology and said they were hoping to raise money for Gannon, as well as make money for themselves.
