Synanon Sequel

Dederich pleads no contest

On an October afternoon in 1978, Lawyer Paul Morantz reached into the mailbox of his Los Angeles home and suddenly felt a sharp pain. He pulled back his hand--and with it a 4 1/2-ft. diamond-back rattlesnake, its fangs embedded near his thumb. A tourniquet applied by a quick-thinking neighbor saved the lawyer's life.

Arrested were Charles (Chuck) Dederich, 67, founder of the Synanon Foundation, and two of his "Imperial Marines," Lance Kenton, 22 (son of Bandleader Stan Kenton), and Joseph Musico, 30. Three weeks before the snake attack, Morantz had won a $300,000 judgment against the controversial drug rehabilitation organization on behalf of a married couple who claimed the wife had been held captive by Synanon members.

On the day their trial was to have begun last week, the three defendants pleaded no contest to charges of conspiracy to commit murder and assault with a deadly weapon (the rattlesnake).

As part of the settlement reached with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, Dederich agreed not to serve as an officer or director of Synanon, and the prosecution agreed not to seek a prison term. Dederich will probably be placed on probation, if a court-appointed doctor confirms that he is indeed suffering from heart trouble, diabetes and other ailments.

Kenton and Musico, who still face up to two years in jail, must undergo psychiatric tests before the judge decides whether to place them on probation. Morantz, who sat in the front row of the courtroom as the deal was announced, declared himself satisfied. "I'm very happy," he said. "To have them stand up in court and admit-they're guilty gives me an enormous amount of satisfaction." qed

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