Feds mull appeal of CEO's release in fraud case

Russ Wasendorf, Sr. CEO of Peregrine Financial Group, is seen on April 4, 2011, in this file photo. (Rick Chase/Waterloo Courier/AP, file)

(AP) IOWA CITY, Iowa - Prosecutors continue to consider whether to appeal a judge's order that would free disgraced Iowa businessman Russ Wasendorf Sr. from jail before sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan disclosed in a filing Friday that prosecutors ordered a transcript of Wasendorf's detention hearing on an expedited basis as they consider appealing U.S. Magistrate Jon Scoles' order.

Scoles ruled that the founder of Peregrine Financial Group in Cedar Falls can leave the Linn County jail after he pleads guilty Monday to mail fraud, embezzling customer funds and lying to regulators.

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Scoles says Wasendorf will be confined to his pastor's Marion home under GPS monitoring. Joining him will be Nancy Paladino, who Wasendorf secretly married days before the fraud was uncovered.

Freedom would be short-lived for Wasendorf, who's facing a lengthy prison term.