The Region - News from Nov. 26, 1986

A judge doubled the $1-million bail for an accused con man dying of AIDS, saying that the Malibu millionaire was a greater risk to flee than before he was known to have the fatal disease. U.S. District Judge A. Andrew Hauk scheduled a Dec. 9 trial for Sheldon Block, 36, who is accused of masterminding a $35-million office supply telemarketing fraud. The judge accepted the arguments of Assistant U.S. Atty. David Katz and the findings of a bail-investigation report that Block was a greater risk to flee now than before he was diagnosed as suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Hauk said Block might have money hidden in foreign banks and might have a passport under a phony name. Block’s lawyers protested to no avail, giving Hauk a letter from the UCLA Medical Center saying Block was a candidate for an experimental treatment program and needed to get out of Terminal Island Federal Prison.