By Anna Driver
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Allen Stanford, who faces criminal charges related to a massive Ponzi scheme, was back in a Texas courthouse on Friday waiting to find out whether he can be released on $500,000 bail.
Federal prosecutors, who believe the billionaire is a flight risk, said they would appeal U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy's decision to let Stanford go, provided he comes up with $100,000 for a cash bond, lives with his girlfriend in a Houston high-rise apartment and wears a tracking device.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner, who is assigned to hear the criminal case, has until the end of the day to decide whether Stanford should remain in custody.
"The United States seeks an order detaining defendant Stanford until trial because there is a serious risk that he will flee if released on bond," federal prosecutors said in court papers filed on Thursday.
Stanford, 59, has been locked up since last week when he surrendered to federal agents in Virginia.
Stanford, who appeared at the hearing on Thursday in a prison-issued orange jumpsuit, was led into the courthouse by U.S. Marshals on Friday morning still shackled but smiling and wearing a suit.
And even at his detention hearing on Thursday, the flamboyant sports patron seemed very relaxed, smiling frequently at his supporters, which included his parents, estranged wife, two former girlfriends and at least four of his six children.
Paul Pelletier, a federal prosecutor, argued at the detention hearing on Thursday that Stanford has the motive to flee because if convicted, he faces life in prison.
Stanford also has a "network of wealthy acquaintances" to tap for financial support and he may have access to large sums of money that the government has not been able to locate, prosecutors said.
Stanford's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, argued his client had been left destitute by a court-ordered asset freeze. He also told Judge Stacy that Stanford offered on three occasions to surrender to authorities, a sign that he is willing to stick around and fight the charges.
Stanford and five others were charged last week with fraud, conspiracy and obstruction.
A 21-count indictment lays out a scheme where Stanford and others falsified records and bribed regulators who had oversight over Stanford's offshore bank in Antigua, bilking the banks' investors out of $7 billion.
Stanford has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston, editing by Dave Zimmerman)