Lloyd Tiller Jr., the stockbroker accused of sending threatening e-mails to a Canadian government official after a surprise change in policies cost his clients millions in their portfolios, went on trial today in federal court in Shreveport.
Tiller, of Shreveport, has acknowledged sending the e-mails but is expected to argue that the comments, while inappropriate, were hyperbole and he had no intention of harming finance minister James Flaherty.
Tiller, 59, is accused of sending threatening e-mails on two occasions to Flaherty. U.S. prosecutors said one threat was that he would "cut your throat."
Tiller, in an interview before his arraignment earlier this year, conceded he sent the e-mails but said he was just letting off steam -- calling himself "someone mad on a keyboard."
But in the post-Sept. 11 world, the U.S. Attorney's office in Shreveport prosecuted him. Under federal law, prosecutors don't have to prove the sender of a threatening e-mail intends to carry out the threat.
Flaherty's surprise decision last fall to place a new tax on income trusts broke an election promise from Canada's Conservatives and cost investors in Canada and the United States dearly. The change in policy, which could be likened to increasing capital gains taxes in the United States, created an uproar and cost billions in paper losses. It was called the "Halloween massacre" by some financial analysts.
Tiller said many of his clients are elderly and they lost almost $6 million in their portfolios. Some pulled their accounts. Tiller lost a quarter of a million dollars of his own money on paper.
The indictment charges that Tiller sent threatening e-mails last November and in January to the finance minister's office.
"I am going to cut your ------------- throat. You can't hide. I will find you," one e-mail said.
"You have killed my business as a stockbroker ... you have ruined my life ... and I hear you think it is funny," one e-mail said.
Defense attorney Marty Stroud would not comment on his defense strategy. He said earlier that Tiller is a well-respected stockbroker and the e-mails are not reflective of the professional and personal life he has
Federal prosecutors refused to say if Flaherty will testify. Jury selection began this morning.
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