Fraud Case : AIDS Victim Flies East for Prison Tests

An AIDS victim who said that imprisoning him would constitute a “death sentence” will be sent to Missouri today for tests of his competency to stand trial on fraud charges, the prosecutor in the case said Tuesday.

Sheldon L. Block, 36, of Malibu, will be taken from St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach early this morning and flown on a commercial jetliner to Springfield, where all federal inmates known to have AIDS are held in a prison hospital, Asst. U. S. Atty. David A. Katz said.

The way was cleared for the transfer Monday when the U. S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judge’s order sending Block to Springfield.

After the appeals court ruling, Block’s attorney, Mark E. Beck, said that Block probably would accept a government plea-bargain offer that would allow him to remain free by admitting his guilt and forfeiting most of his $2 million in assets.

But lawyers for both sides agreed Tuesday that the court cannot accept a plea before Block is declared mentally competent.

Block contended earlier that he is physically and mentally incapable of going to trial. A defense psychiatrist testified that Block is unable to rationally participate in his defense because AIDS has damaged his brain.

“The defense presentation of mental incompetency precluded taking a plea under federal law,” Katz said.

A guilty plea may be entered later this fall if tests find that Block is mentally fit, he said.

Block was one of 24 people indicted in a case involving a “boiler room” telephone operation that allegedly sold overpriced or undelivered office equipment to businesses across the country. Block’s Venice-based Park Distributing Inc. allegedly grossed $35.4 million from 1981 to 1985 through the scheme, which used post office boxes in Sherman Oaks and Encino.