BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A Cincinnati man pleaded guilty Thursday to offering a bribe to a key witness in Larry Flynt's obscenity case. He said he made the offer without any help from Mr. Flynt.
Howard Beatty said his addiction to prescription drugs, not a conspiracy with Mr. Flynt, was the real reason behind his misguided bribery attempt.
"At the time of this offense, Howard was under the influence of these drugs," said Mr. Beatty's attorney, Kenneth Lawson. "He is sorry for his actions."
Following Mr. Beatty's arrest in June, Prosecutor Joseph Deters said the suspect had told the witness that Mr. Flynt and his brother, Jimmy, would pay $50,000 in exchange for favorable testimony. Mr. Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine, has denied any involvement and is suing Mr. Deters for slander.
At the sentencing hearing Thursday, assistant prosecutor Steve Tolbert did not mention the Flynt case by name and instead repeated the statement that Mr. Beatty made to the 14-year-old witness. "He made the representation that the young man was sitting on a gold mine," Mr. Tolbert said.
When Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steven Martin asked if the prosecutor's statement was true, Mr. Beatty said: "That's what I told them."
Asked again if the statement was true, Mr. Lawson interrupted his client. "It's true that he went down there and talked to them, that part is true," Mr. Lawson said.
The judge then accepted the plea and sentenced Mr. Beatty to one year in prison. "Bribery of a witness is something this court takes very seriously," the judge said. "So you will be going to the penitentiary."
The bribery attempt came about two months after a grand jury indicted Larry and Jimmy Flynt on obscenity charges for selling sexually explicit videos at their downtown store. Their trial is set for January.
The teen who was approached by Mr. Beatty is considered a crucial witness because he is expected to testify that employees at the store did not check his identification before he purchased videos. The Flynts have said they want a fair trial on the merits of their case and did not ask Mr. Beatty to bribe anyone. Mr. Lawson said his client acted alone.
"The Flynts had nothing to do with him being down there," Mr. Lawson said. "He did this on his own."
The Flynts' attorney, H. Louis Sirkin, said his clients hold no hard feelings for Mr. Beatty. "We wish him the best," he said. "We hope he learns from this."
