Rockefeller bail set at $500 million

(AP Photo/Boston Herald, Mike Adaskaveg, pool)

Clark Rockefeller (left) and his attorney, Stephen B. Hrones, appeared today in Suffolk Superior Court.

By Jonathan Saltzman and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

A Suffolk Country prosecutor hastily asked to approach the bench today when a trial magistrate announced that the international con man and alleged kidnapper known as Clark Rockefeller was entitled to bail.

It took a global manhunt to track down Rockefeller this summer in Baltimore, where he had embarked on another new life under what has become an innumerable string of aliases. Authorities allege that before being captured, Rockefeller claimed to be a ship captain named Charles "Chip" Smith and had given his 7-year-old daughter an alias as well, "Muffy."

Any concern from prosecutors about bail evaporated when Magistrate Gary D. Wilson announced his figure moments later: $500 million in property or other surety, or $50 million in cash.

Defense attorney Stephen B. Hrones grimaced and stood silently, absorbing the half billion dollar sum.

"Did I hear right?" Hrones asked. "Five hundred million dollars?"

There are some Wall Street tycoons who make that much money in a single year, Wilson responded.

"There were, your honor," Hrones quipped.

Assistant district attorney David Deakin argued that high bail was necessary because Rockefeller's lies "are literally so numerous and varied they are difficult to keep track of even with a database."

"We now know precisely who this defendant is," Deakin said. "We also know without a doubt that he has no ties to anywhere."

During today's 45-minute hearing, Deakin outlined what authorities described as Rockefeller's long trail of deception and the "extraordinarily meticulously planned abduction" of his daughter in the Back Bay on July 27. The previously unreported tales Rockefeller allegedly told about his past included that he entered a special program at Yale University at age 14; that his parents were kidnapped in Japan or Pakistan; and that he worked with small, struggling governments to help them repay their debts.

"These are just a sampling of the lies he told," Deakin said.

Hrones defended his client, saying that prosecutors had forgotten about innocence until being proven guilty.

"Sure he's told some tall tales," Hrones said. "A lot of people tell tall tales. That's not a crime."
Hrones told reporters after the hearing that his client would have been unable to make bail if it had been set $1 million, much less $500 million.

"He's not one of the rich Rockefellers," said Hrones, who plans to appeal the bail at a hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Rockefeller, 47, made international headlines after authorities identified him as Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who came from Germany as a teenager to study in America. They say he is a high-society con man who has used several aliases while crisscrossing the country. Rockefeller says he grew up in New York City.

California authorities have also named him a "person of interest" in the disappearance and presumed killings of two young newlyweds, John and Linda Sohus, in San Marino in 1985. The identity of bones found buried at their former home has not been determined.

He is accused of kidnapping his daughter, Reigh Storrow Mills Boss, during a supervised parental visit, the first since he and her mother were divorced. He was arrested six days later in Baltimore. His daughter, nicknamed Snooks, was reunited with her mother, Sandra L. Boss, a senior partner at McKinsey & Co., who lives in London.

Charges of assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon stem from Rockefeller's alleged physical confrontation with a social worker who was supervising the visit he had in Boston with his daughter. Rockefeller allegedly shoved the social worker to the ground and then fled in a car. The most serious assault charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Jake Wark, a spokesman for Conley, said 11 witnesses testified before the grand jury and prosecutors presented 14 exhibits.

Hrones rebutted the allegations charge by charge. Most importantly, he argued that Rockefeller and Boss were never legally married, which would invalidate the custody order stemming from their divorce. As his daughter's primary caregiver, Rockefeller could not be guilty of kidnapping, he said.

A tentative trial date has been set for March 23.

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