Leo Grillo, Founder of DELTA Rescue, May Die in Custody, Doctor Warns!
A UCLA Cardiologist Warns Leo Grillo Could Die in a Cell
The Government's Case Rests on a Fraud Suspect.
Leo Grillo built the world's largest no-kill animal sanctuary over 47 years. About 1,500 dogs, cats, and horses live on a ridge above Los Angeles because he made them a promise no one else would. Most are unadoptable. If DELTA Rescue fails, they have nowhere to go.
Since March 3, Grillo, 77, has been held in federal custody without bail on a single charge of attempted kidnapping. He has no criminal record. He has serious heart disease.
Dr. Adel El-BialyHis cardiologist of fifteen years, Adel K El-bialy, MD — a UCLA professor who treated him after a 2011 heart attack — has put it in writing: Grillo's arrhythmias can stop his heart without warning, his blood pressure collapses at medication doses that wouldn't affect an ordinary patient, and he cannot get the care he needs behind bars. In the doctor's words, continued incarceration places him at substantial risk of sudden death.
The case against him rests on one man: James Clark, a precious-metals dealer whose business collapsed owing elderly retirees their savings, and who is himself under federal fraud investigation. The FBI's own affidavit acknowledges he cooperates in hopes of favorable treatment on his own case. A man who made his living taking money from seniors found a 77-year-old in financial ruin and handed the government a defendant.
James Clark, an alleged criminal seeking to get out of troubleJames D. Clark (above) swindled more than 115 senior citizens and faces years in prison through phony gold schemes.
The recordings the government is relying on captured only a fraction of what was said. The video failed. The most important moments were never preserved.
Grillo has not been convicted of anything. He is presumed innocent.
And he is, by his own doctor's account, dying by inches in a 6-by-8 cell while a fundraising-ready sanctuary collapses without him and the animals he promised to protect wait for a man who may not come home.
There is a simple, humane question in front of the court: whether a sick 77-year-old with no record, charged on the word of a fraud suspect, should be left in a cell where his cardiologist says he may not survive.
The editors of Frank Report and Artvoice feel it is important to put this on the record in advance of a potential calamity.
Leo Grillo began the No Kill movement 45 years ago.Grillo founded DELTA Rescue 47 years ago.
Government overreach in pretrial detention has become deeply troubling. Americans are raised to believe that individuals are innocent until proven guilty, yet in practice, many people are imprisoned for months or even years before they have their day in court. During that time, they are separated from their families, deprived of their freedom, and often face significant obstacles in preparing an effective defense.
The conditions in many detention facilities are widely recognized as harsh, with inadequate medical care, poor nutrition, and environments that can be dangerous and dehumanizing. Even individuals with no criminal history can find themselves subjected to these conditions while awaiting trial.
For elderly detainees and those suffering from serious medical conditions, prolonged pretrial incarceration can have devastating consequences. In some cases, forcing a medically vulnerable 77-year-old individual to remain in custody before any determination of guilt is effectively imposing a death sentence without a conviction.