Marc Dreier is Headed Home . . . For Now

[WSJ Law Blog]

This just in: New York federal judge Jed Rakoff agreed today to release Marc Dreier Monday on an unsecured $10 million bond.

The indicted lawyer has been in jail since Dec. 7

Dow Jones Newswires reporter Chad Bray reports that Rakoff ordered that Dreier wear an electronic monitoring device and for armed guards to be present at Dreier’s Manhattan apartment 24 hours a day to ensure he doesn’t flee.

In his decision, Judge Rakoff noted prosecutors had demonstrated, for the limited purposes of bail, that Mr. Dreier “is not only a master of deceit and a doyen of dishonesty, but the kind of person who, under stress, may resort to desperate measures” and his motive to flee was “palpable.”

However, the judge found the bail package proposed by Mr. Dreier’s lawyers “goes far to minimize this risk.”

The bond would be co-signed by Dreier’s son and mother, meaning they would be on the hook if Mr. Dreier were to flee.

The judge also ordered that all means of communication, other than a land-line telephone needed for electronic monitoring, be removed from Mr. Dreier’s apartment and that no visitors would be allowed without approval from the government.