Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 1

A SB DRY i) PARK In bloom Gardens for the new millennium open in Philadelphia OUT ABOUTF1 MONMOUTH COUNTY EDITION To) AT? T7 V'7 Brian Oberdick, Mater Dei advance in the state tourney, 50-49. D8 Complete Region VI wrestling results. D4-5 Brick rolls to 8-0 ice hockey win over River Dell. D6 V) VROTSS i mm QiMGi? feSDIM off Brennan loses ruling on fund Improperly tried to shield $187,000 Head of Red Bank firm pleads guilty to fraud no one knew money was missing until Natale confessed less than two weeks ago. His lawyers called the attorney general's office to begin discussions and he met with authorities for the first time less than 48 hours before yesterday's hearing, said Kim Gua-dagno, an assistant attorney general.

"This was not the result of an investigation by any authorities," said one of Natale's attorneys, See Bilked, Page A2 By KRISTEN OSTENDORF COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU NEWARK Last week, before he confessed that he was responsible for an eight-year, $40 million fraud scheme, authorities didn't know who John Natale was. Natale, 44, who ran a Red Bank investment business, pleaded guilty yesterday in Superior they are worth less than $3 million, prosecutors said. About 180 investors ranging from individuals to institutions such as banks, invested in the funds, said Andrew Rossner, supervising deputy attorney general. In court, Natale admitted to altering figures to show investors profits while the funds lost money on the market. The scheme began in 1992, but Court to misapplication of funds, securities fraud and theft by deception, involving his investment partnerships, Cambridge Partners, LP, and Cambridge Partners II, LP.

According to the state attorney general's office, Natale has homes in Long Branch and Holmdel. On paper, the' Cambridge investments appeared to be worth more than $50 million; in reality, John Natale with the Bureau of Securities." Freedman said taxes and penalties would be deducted from the fund before it is handed over to the state. Brennan declared bankruptcy in 1995 after losing a $75 million stock fraud case to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Brennan lit a Autism is such a spectrum disorder that everybody who has an autistic child in this room will have a different situation.

LORI MOONEY parents group president Learning about autism maintains all his assets, except for his income since the bankruptcy filing, are tied up in bank-r court. But the state, as well as the trustee of his bankrupt estate, have alleged he's By DAVID P. WILLIS BUSINESS WRITER NEWARK Former penny stock tycoon Robert E. Brennan improperly tried to keep $187,000 out of the state's hands by placing it in a retirement fund, a judge ruled yesterday. Superior Court Judge Philip M.

Freedman said the money now goes to the state, which is seeking to recover up to $45 million Brennan owes under a settlement of a state stock fraud case. Brennan, a former Brielle resident who now lives in Juno Beach, opened the account with a Dallas brokerage house in December 1997 while fighting a lawsuit filed by the state Bureau of Securities, court documents state. State law insulates such retirement accounts from creditors unless they were set up with fraudulent intent. "The particular trust was clearly set to protect money from creditors and not for any other purpose," Freedman said. Brennan's lawyer, Gerald H.

Gline, said there was no fraud involved. The account was opened more than two years after the lawsuit was filed, he added. -But, said Deputy Attorney General Anna S. Lascurain, this was not some 20-year pension plan. "This was something that cropped up in the middle of litigation I i Robert E.

Brennan Money to be turned over to the state Press file photo I found places to hide assets, including overseas accounts. Last fall, Freedman ordered Brennan to pay 25 percent of his income. The state is upset that Brennan refuses to answer any questions regarding his money and recent travels. Yesterday, Brennan said he has never previously refused to answer questions. But, he told the judge: "It is evident to me that in dealing with the government, innocence does not protect me from 7 fir Judge Julio M.

Fuentes presides Cver a case in Essex County's Chancery Tax Court in Newark. Associated Press Photos by PETER ACKERMANStaff Photographer Tom and Linda Caffrey of Brick were among 600 people at a conference on autism at Georgian Court College in Lakewood yesterday. The conference continues today. 600 parents, professionals share experiences, stress the need to get help in early childhood 7 Toms River grad up for a federal judgeship Taiwo Sekou Tyehimba He declined to attend his sentencing yesterday. Robbers -unlikely to ever go free By ELAINE SILVESTRINI FREEHOLD BUREAU FREEHOLD In one of the longest prison sentences handed down in this state, a man who ignited a 23-hour siege in Bradley Beach received four life terms without parole yesterday for armed robberies and attempted murders.

They run consecutively: Taiwo Sekou Tyehimba, 50, also received a 20-year sentence, of which he must serve 10 years before becoming eligible for parole. That sentence begins after the four life terms. Superior Court Judge John A. Ricciardi initially seemed reluctant to make the life terms consecutive, wondering aloud whether such a sentence would amount to "a show." "What does it mean, life without parole, four consecu-tives?" the judge asked Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Elaine Leschot. "You only have one (life).

The good Lord only gave us one. Is this rational, or is this just a statement to say to the world, 'That's how bad I think you Well give him 10 of them, give him 20!" Leschot said the law re- quires that the defendant be sentenced for the offenses he committed, and she added that making the sentences run at the same time would be "saying one of these offenses equates to all of these of-. fenses." Tyehimba's Leroy Adams, 54, was later, sentenced to 110 years in state prison, with 93V4 years before -parole may be considered. Tyehimba, who refused to attend his trial, likewise boycotted yesterday's sentencing. Adams attended his hearing and insisted he was framed.

Tyehimba was accused of shooting and killing a police See Sentences, PageA2 I By CORI ANNE NATOLI and KIRK MOORE STAFF WRITERS LINDA CAFFREY knew her 1-year-old daughter was more than just a late bloomer. She didn't react when her name was called. She didn't seem to understand her mother's simple attempts to communicate. A year later, the child was diagnosed with autism a developmental disorder that, limits a child's ability to communicate and function socially. Yesterday, Caffrey and 600 others, including parents of autistic children and professionals interested in the disorder, attended the start of a two-day conference to discuss possible causes and rec ommended treatments.

And more than 600 others were turned away for lack of space. "It wasn't just that Alicia couldn't speak, it was that she couldn't understand," recalled Caffrey, a member of Parents of Autistic Children, which hosted the first Autism 2000 conference at Lake-wood's Georgian Court College. "She would not respond to her name. It was as if we were saying Caffrey, whose daughter is now 5, and her husband, Tom, live hi Brick a town the federal Centers for Disease Control is surveying to determine if an "autism cluster" truly exists there. It See Autism, Page A6 By SHERI TABACHNIK STAFF WRITER BACK IN THE '60s, Julio M.

Fuentes was a first-string wrestler and football player at Toms River High School. Now, he's a star on the bench. On Thursday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to approve Fuentes' appointment as the first Hispanic judge to sit on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said Rich McGrath, spokesman for Sen.

Robert G. Torricelli, D-N. J. But before his appointment to the Philadelphia- based court becomes official, the Senate must fatify the nomination. It is expected to vote later this month, McGrath said.

"I'm thrilled, honored and very excited," Fuentes, 54, said yesterday from Newark, where he's been a Superior Court judge at the Essex County Courthouse since 1987. "When I was young I wanted to be a policeman and a gym teacher. Being a lawyer or a judge was the farthest thing from my mind," he recalled. But in graduate school, he became See Judge, PageA6 I In the future they will have brain scans that can diagnose autism, but they do not have it now. TEMPLE GRANDIN GUEST SPEAKER Alicia Caffrey Early intervention, treatment have helped 5-year-old kindergartner.

NEC tournament LIU beats Monmouth women, 78-69. A mild weekend Mostly sunny today. 54. Partly cloudy tomorrow. 56.

WEATHERA2 SPORTS I Animal instinct Ocean County 4-H contest tests youths' knowledge INSIDE TODAY 01 fi Going with the floe Sentenced Ex-Asbury official to serve probation, community service. COUNTYB1 jobs cut Wal-Mart says meat cutters' Jobs not eliminated over union vote. BUSINESSB3 Bridge F7 Business B3 Classified El A14 Datebook Aio Editorials A16 Horoscopes F7 Movie Timetable. F6 obituaries A17 Panorama F5 Puzzles A14 Saturday People sports C1 stocks B4 Television F7 71 -year-old Lotteries A2 Legal Notices B6 competitive skater still sailing along. SATURDAY PEOPLEG1 HO Read Press stones on the Internet: www.

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