By Frank Green
Media General News Service

A federal jury yesterday convicted a Haitian immigrant of mail fraud and lying to a federal investigator in a campaign of fake hate mail that victimized his church.

Frantz Cadet, 48, is facing a maximum of 185 years in prison when sentenced Sept. 29, by Chief U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer. He was convicted yesterday on nine counts of mail fraud and of lying to FBI Special Agent Judy A. Sykes.

Cadet stood erect, his arms crossed in front of him, as the verdicts were read. He glanced behind him briefly, toward several of his six children who were in attendance.

In 2005, more than 100 anonymous letters with derogatory statements about Cadet were mailed to members of his church, the Southside Nazarene Church in Chesterfield County, where he worked and was in danger of losing his janitorial job for poor performance.

Sykes handled the case as a hate crime but soon focused on Cadet as the suspect. She learned of the case from Pastor Jerome Hancock, who made an announcement about the letters before a Saturday-evening service.

Among other things, testing by the FBI and an independent laboratory found the DNA of Cadet or some of his children on all 20 letters randomly selected for testing.

Two women testified that they had romantic relations with Cadet, who lied and told them his wife was dead. They said they addressed a number of the envelopes used in the scheme after Cadet told them the envelopes were for proper church uses.

Authorities said the women and Cadet’s children were unwitting participants.

“The evidence in this case is overwhelming,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Duffey told the jurors. Duffey argued that Cadet took advantage of his fellow church members who rallied around him, concerned with the safety of him and his family. “Clearly the intent was to bring about some type of gain,” Duffey said, be it keeping his job or receiving assistance from the church.

Paul G. Gill, a federal public defender, countered that Cadet and his family were receiving charity from the church long before the letters started and long after they stopped. Cadet even offered to quit his job at one point, but his superiors persuaded him not to, Gill said.

“It’s a janitorial job, ladies and gentlemen . . .  That’s not a reason to make up the letter-writing campaign,” Gill argued. He conceded that Cadet sent out some of the letters in an effort to get the church to take the threats against him seriously.

But Duffey, who got the last word with the jury, took issue with Gill referring to members of the church and church staff who testified as “government witnesses.”

“They all stood by Mr. Cadet thinking he was the victim of a hate crime . . . They’re all still friends with Mr. Cadet, these ‘government witnesses,’” Duffey said.

Spencer permitted Cadet to remain on restricted release before his sentencing.

Frank Green is a staff writer for The Richmond Times-Dispatch