By Dean Seal

Law360 (August 10, 2020, 6:01 PM EDT) -- An Indiana federal judge has rejected an ex-Celadon Group Inc. executive's request to travel to Mexico for his 40th birthday beach celebration with family and friends while he faces criminal securities and accounting fraud charges back at home.

Flight risk concerns and a sweeping pandemic were among the factors U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson cited in a Friday order that chided former Chief Operating Officer William Meek for offering to put up his children's passports as collateral to ensure his return.

"Though the court does not doubt that Mr. Meek loves his children, it will not allow him to use them as negotiating pieces in an attempt to take a week-long vacation to an adults-only resort," the judge said.

Prosecutors accuse Meek, along with Celadon's ex-Chief Financial Officer Bobby Peavler, of hiding tens of millions of dollars in losses through a truck-swapping operation between 2016 and 2017. The two filed false financial reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to cover up the declining value of the trucks, prosecutors claim.

The former executives were both arrested and indicted in early December on charges of securities and accounting fraud, with a trial scheduled for May 2021. As a condition of his pretrial release, Meek was ordered to surrender his passport and restrict his travel to the Southern District of Indiana unless he got court approval to do otherwise.

On July 30, Meek asked the court for permission to travel to Playa Del Carmen to "celebrate his fortieth birthday with his wife and close friends" for a week in September at an adults-only beachfront resort. Meek said he'd booked and paid for the trip in early December prior to his arrest, that his pretrial services officer has no issue with his travel plans and that the coronavirus pandemic likely wouldn't prove to be an obstacle.

"In the unlikely event there is a restriction on Mr. Meek's ability to return to the United States, it seems inconceivable that Mr. Meek would not be allowed back to the United States in sufficient time to prepare for his May 2021 trial," he said. "Indeed, if that were a realistic scenario, Mr. Meek and his wife would not leave their children at home in Indianapolis."

Meek also told the court that the friends joining him at the resort were not connected to his criminal case, that he would provide the U.S. Pretrial Services Agency with a detailed itinerary of his plans and that he was willing to provide the agency his children's passports to hold until he returns from the trip.

Prosecutors responded sharply last week that Meek shouldn't be allowed "to party with his friends" at an "adults-only, all-inclusive beachfront resort" during a pandemic and in light of the seriousness of the charges he's facing. The request isn't tethered to his defense or trial preparation, or his employment, or a pressing personal matter, like a wedding or funeral, the government said.

Beyond the lack of necessity and the increased flight risk created by international travel, the prosecutors were concerned that the coronavirus would pose an additional risk to Meek's health if he goes to Playa Del Carmen, which the Mexican government currently designates as "orange" on its yellow-orange-red COVID-19 risk-level system.

The government also questioned his ability to return to the U.S. if pandemic-related travel restrictions are imposed while he is away, and noted that Meek purchased trip insurance and would not lose money if he didn't celebrate his birthday in Mexico.

In her order Friday, Judge Magnus-Stinson said the request was "not advisable" for a number of reasons — international travel generally increases flight risk, Meek's birthday was not "the sort of extraordinary event that presents good cause to incur such a risk," Meek had trip insurance, and notably, Meek waited more than eight months and made the request just five weeks before the early September trip was scheduled to start.

"Though the court is sympathetic to the couples planning to travel with Mr. Meek and recognizes that their plans might now be in limbo, Mr. Meek elected to wait until July 30 to raise this issue with the court," the judge said. "As Mr. Meek pointed out, he planned this vacation in early December 2019, and he was indicted and arrested four days later."

Judge Magnus-Stinson also said it was inappropriate for Meek to "offer to use his children as collateral to ensure his return."

The judge further noted that international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic presented too many uncertainties and that Meek's request was pushing the boundaries of acceptable conditions for pretrial release.

Prosecutors and counsel for Meek did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

Meek is represented by Sean Berkowitz, Josh Hamilton and Eric Swibel of Latham & Watkins LLP.

The government is represented by Kyle W. Maurer and L. Rush Atkinson of the DOJ's Criminal Division and Steven D. DeBrota and Nicholas J. Linder of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana.

The case is U.S. v. Meek et al., case number 1:19-cr-00378, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

--Additional reporting by Reenat Sinay. Editing by Michael Watanabe.

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