Carmichael ael sentenced to prison, fined $30,000 Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael, the transsexual who tried to revolutionize the auto industry, has been sentenced to state prison and fined $30,000 for defrauding investors through her promotion of the controversial, threewheeled Dale car. Three other defendants convicted along with Miss Carmichael on grand theft and other charges were sentenced Friday to County Jail and fined. The fifth defendant in the case was fined $5.000 and placed on probation for five years. Under the state penal code as it now stands, Miss Carmichael would serve between two and 20 years in prison. But under the new determinate sentencing law (Senate bill 42) which goes into effect on July 1, prosecutors estimated she would spend 20 months behind bars. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Harold J. Ackerman sentenced Miss Carmichael to prison despite a plea from her attorney that she had been "persecuted" because she is a transsexual and that no prison in the state could accommodate her. "This was a persecution of Miss Carmichael on a personal basis." argued Joseph Shemaria, the defendant's co-counsel, who called Miss Carmichael a "brilliant, hardworking, aggressive, industrious woman, who headed the 20th Century Motor Car up Corp. Grand theft and conspiracy charges were lodged against the 49-year-old Miss Carmichael simply because she is a transsexual, Shemaria continued. The attorney argued that Miss Carmichael couldn't be kept in a men's prison because "she would be raped." Confinement in a women's prison also was out, he said, noting: "She'd be attacked there probably worse than in a men's prison.... There is no place to send Elizabeth Carmichael except home." But the judge wasn't swayed by Shemaria's argument and sentenced Miss Carmichael to the state men's prison at Chino on two counts of grand theft. ordering the prison terms to run consecutively. The fines resulted from her conviction on three counts of violating the state corporations code. Miss Carmichael remained free on appeal, posting bond for $500,000 bail minutes after the sentence was handed down. Outside the courtroom, she blasted the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Youndahl. The DA is an unethical, lying, slimy individual who has taken a personal interest of vindictiveness toward me," she told reporters. Miss Carmichael also said she would prefer to be sentenced to a woman's prison because "I am a woman." The County Grand Jury indicted the defendants on 34 felony counts on May 29, 1975, alleging they swindled investors out of $64,000 by promoting a car which would not perform as promised. Miss Carmichael and the others contended the Dale car would go up to 70 miles on a gallon of gas, cruise along at 85 miles an hour and withstand collisions of up to 30 m.p.h. Jurors last Jan. 24 convicted Miss Carmichael and the otherson grand theft and other charges following a seven-month trial. Sentencing originally was set for March 18, but was delayed un- til Friday as the defense raised allegations of bailiff misconduct and jury tampering because the lone juror holding for acquittal was dismissed from the panel. Judge Ackerman excused Mrs Mary Thayer last Jan. 19 after she was hospitalized for an ear infection. However, because someone amended a note from the examining physician to say Mrs Thayer might need more than three days of rest, defense attorneys contended the woman was dismissed on tainted evidence. Thursday--following four days of hearings--Judge Ackerman ruled Mrs. Thayer was ill when she was dismissed. The judge rejected the motion for a new trial and scheduled sentencing for Friday. Miss Carmichael was the last of the defendants to be sentenced. Edward. J. Comstock, 34, of Redondo Beach, a vice president with 20th Century, and Samuel Schilsman, 64. of Los Angeles, a vice! president and treasurer, both were, sentenced to one vear in County Jail. fined $10,000 and placed on 10 vears probation. Jay Gardner. a 29-vear-old salesman with the firm from Los Angeles, was sentenced to six months, in jail, fined $5,000 and placed on probation for five years. - The only defendant to escape jail was 63-year-old Edward Ferrell, an engineer from Thousand Oaks, who was fined $5,000 and placed on five years probation. Sentences against all defendants including Miss Carmichael- were stayed pending appeal. All said they would appeal and, with the exception of Miss Carmichael, were released on their own recognizance.
