Michael Billington (activist)
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Michael O. Billington is an activist in the
LaRouche Movement The LaRouche movement is a political and cultural network promoting the late Lyndon LaRouche and his ideas. It has included many organizations and companies around the world, which campaign, gather information and publish books and periodicals. ...
, Asia editor for the ''Executive Intelligence Review'', and author of ''Reflections of an American Political Prisoner: the Repression and Promise of the LaRouche Movement''. Billington graduated from
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
in 1967. He then joined the
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...
, where he taught
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and
Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
, first in
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, then in
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
. Upon returning to the U.S. he joined the LaRouche movement in 1972, in the early stages of the movement's history. His wife, Gail, and his brother, Joe, and his sister, Margaret Greenspan, were also members of the movement."Convicted LaRouche aide won't renounce his leader" THOMAS J. BRAZAITIS, PLAIN DEALER REPORTER. The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio: Jul 5, 1991 Billington's book provides an "insider" look at the history of this highly controversial movement. Billington ran on the U.S. Labor Party platform for County Executive of
Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...
in 1977, and for
New York's 24th congressional district New York's 24th congressional district is located in Upstate New York in the Finger Lakes region, stretching alongside Lake Ontario from near Buffalo in the west to Watertown in the east. The district does not include Rochester, which is in ...
in 1978.


Trials

In the latter part of the 1980s, there were numerous criminal trials of LaRouche movement leaders (see
LaRouche criminal trials The LaRouche criminal trials in the mid-1980s stemmed from federal and state investigations into the activities of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche and members of his movement. They were charged with conspiring to commit fraud and soli ...
) that were alleged by LaRouche supporters to be political
show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...
s. Billington was tried and convicted twice, first in Federal court, then in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
state court. He served two years of a three-year sentence in the first case, and was then re-tried in the state of Virginia and sentenced to 77 years, of which he served eight before being paroled. Billington was charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in federal court and was convicted along with six associates. The case was appealed to the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
, which let stand the convictions of Billington and his associates. He served two years of a three-year sentence. Billington was charged in Virginia State court with nine felony counts of "conspiracy to be an unregistered securities broker". Prosecutors charged that Billington solicited 131 loans from 85 people that totaled $1.24 million even though he knew the money would not be repaid. Billington asserted his innocence and refused a plea bargain that would have resulted in being sentenced to the time already served in federal prison. LaRouche reportedly told his followers to become martyrs and promised that "honorable deeds shall be legendary in the tales told to future generations." Brian Gettings, his lawyer (who had previously defended LaRouche associate William Wertz in the 1988 Federal trial involving LaRouche, Wertz, Billington, and four others), told the court that he believed Billington to be incompetent to make decisions on his own, but a court-appointed psychiatrist deemed him competent. The judge requested a second evaluation but Billington refused. Billington tried to have his attorney replaced, and Gettings himself asked to be removed, but the judge refused permission. According to Larouche Movement member Barbara Boyd, Billington's attorney had not prepared a defense, assuming that Billington would "cop a plea," and the judge refused to permit Billington to substitute a different attorney, despite the fact that one stood ready. At the state trial, held in
Roanoke Roanoke may refer to: Places *Roanoke Colony, a former English colony that mysteriously disappeared *Roanoke Island, the location of the Roanoke colony in present-day North Carolina *Roanoke River, flowing through Virginia and North Carolina and ...
, the prosecutor said that Billington was "ruthless" in his fundraising from old people who "look upon him in such a close and trusting fashion that they would do whatever he asked." His mother testified that he "can talk you into or out of just about anything." Billington reportedly offered high interest rates and promised lenders that the money would be safer than in a bank. The jury convicted Billington on all nine counts and recommended a sentence to 77 years. The judge accepted the jury's recommendation because he had warned he would do so if Billington insisted on a jury trial and because Billington showed no remorse. He served eight years of the sentence before being paroled.EIR Releases Autobiography of American Political Prisoner Michael Billington
/ref> In 1990, his bank accounts, along with those of Laurence Hecht and two LaRouche enterprises, were seized to fulfill a judgment related to $260,000 obtained from an 88-year-old man suffering from dementia under misrepresentations.


Commentary on the verdict

Because Billington was tried in the Virginia court without a cooperating attorney, because of the novelty of the charge (political loans had never before been considered to be
securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...
) and because of the 77-year sentence for what is normally considered a minor
white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. The crimes are believed to be committed by middle- or upper-class indivi ...
(transformed from a misdemeanor to a felony by the addition of a conspiracy charge), protest was raised against the verdict. Billington and his fellow defendants in the Virginia trials attempted, without success, to have the charges dismissed on various grounds, including: *that they had already been tried on the same charges in federal court (
double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare cases ...
) and *that the Virginia State Corporation Counsel did not rule that political loans were "securities" until three months after the defendants were indicted for conspiracy to fail to register as securities brokers. The Slovak weekly ''Zmena'' wrote that "the history of the case of Billington shows that only his crime was the association with Lyndon LaRouche." Billington is mentioned in the book ''Life After Life'' by jailed
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
activist Evans D. Hopkins, where he is described as "a white guy who, it was said, had gotten railroaded on a political charge, his primary offense being that he had been an associate of the political maverick Lyndon LaRouche."


Later activity

During his time in prison, he trained himself to sleep during the day, so that he could study at night, undisturbed by the constant noise of prison life. He taught himself to read and write
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and became knowledgeable about the history of Chinese philosophy. He describes his "greatest experience" in prison as being the work he did with co-defendant Paul Gallagher in founding a prisoners' chorus, where prisoners sang classical choral music including the "prisoners' chorus" from the opera ''
Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...
'' by
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. After being paroled, he resumed his political activity. His book, written in prison, was released in 2000. Billington's brother, Joe Billington, has also been a supporter of the LaRouche movement as has their sister, Margaret. In January 2008, Billington debated
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
Asia expert James Putzel on
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ian television, as part of the English-language
Press TV Press TV (stylised as PRESSTV) is an Iranian state-owned news media organisation, owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), that broadcasts in the English and French languages. The 24-hour channel, which has headquarters in Tehra ...
's "Four Corners" program. The topic of the discussion was the insurgency in the southern part of the
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, and whether it is a solely indigenous problem, or whether American interests have played a role in creating it.


Books

*Billington, Michael O., ''Reflections of an American Political Prisoner'', published by ''Executive Intelligence Review'', 2000,


References


External links


Confucianism and "Imago Viva Dei"
transcript of a conference presentation made by Billington over a telephone hookup while in prison

deals with his imprisonment {{DEFAULTSORT:Billington, Michael LaRouche movement Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni U.S. Labor Party politicians American politicians convicted of federal public corruption crimes New York (state) politicians convicted of crimes Politicians convicted of mail and wire fraud Prisoners and detainees of Virginia