Joseph Puertas, a Clarkston businessman and former proprietor of the Orion Township Megabowl, will get another chance to dodge prison time as his sentencing on six counts of cocaine delivery and one count of racketeering has been delayed.
Puertas’ defense attorneys convinced US District Judge Paul Gadola to issue a temporary restraining order on June 23 to block the scheduled sentencing in Oakland County Circuit Court before Judge Colleen O’Brien on June 24. Gadola has set a July 2 hearing date to consider whether the state court of appeals misapplied federal law when it said Puertas was not entitled to specific police reports prior to his trial in 1999.
Just a week before, Puertas was ordered to pay $382,000 to government lawyers, and $1.6 million to the Internal Revenue Service, in the settlement of a civil forfeiture case. Part of that settlement also returned $2 million to the Puertas family, who agreed to drop a federal lawsuit against several officials from Oakland County.
A date of July 8 has been set for the resentencing before O’Brien, pending any other appeals or a ruling by Gadola. Puertas, who has a heart condition and is being treated for cancer, faces up to a minimum of 14 years in prison on the charges.