Stokes to remain in jail

After FBI agent tells of identity-change document found on computer and lost-and-found $1 mil cabinet of Japanese prints, judge denies bond for head of bankrupt benefits firm

Email | Print By Walker Duncan and E. Thomas Wood

Barry Stokes

Six days after the arrest of 1Point Solutions chief Barry Stokes in a corridor of Nashville's federal courthouse last Friday, the founder of the now-defunct employee benefits firm shuffled back into court this morning in a faded orange jumpsuit from the Davidson County Sheriff's Office, wearing leg shackles and with his hands cuffed behind his back.

And he learned he won't be trading in that garb for business attire anytime soon.

U.S Magistrate Judge E. Clifton Knowles denied bond for Stokes and ordered him detained pending trial. After hearing an FBI agent tell of a suspicious document discovered on his personal computer, the judge ruled that Stokes posed a serious flight risk.

Suzanne Nash, a special agent with the Bureau's white-collar crime task force, said the 295-page downloaded document was headed "How to change your identity." It featured helpful hints on obtaining bogus passports, faking one's own death, setting up offshore bank accounts and other coping mechanisms for the man on the run.

Nash also said that a cabinet filled with about $1 million worth of fine Japanese prints, of whose whereabouts Stokes said he had no idea in court last week, has turned up safe and sound in Austin, Texas, where Stokes kept a home. She cited an FBI interview with a San Francisco art dealer who said Stokes contacted him while the cabinet was missing and asked about finding a quick way to sell some Japanese prints.

Attorney Paul Buchanan, representing Stokes, argued that his standing in the community and the fact that his parents still live in the area ought to be sufficient surety to allow him out on bond, but the judge rejected the argument.

A trial date has not yet been set.