By Mike Donoghue
CORRESPONDENT
BURLINGTON, Vt. — A former CNN senior producer, arrested on federal charges for luring a Nevada mother and child to Vermont to have sex with him, offered three not guilty pleas when arraigned in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Wednesday.
John J. Griffin, 44, of Stamford, Connecticut, dressed in orange jail pants and an orange sweatshirt, was escorted in handcuffs into the first floor courtroom by two veteran deputy U.S. Marshals. Griffin wore a blue face mask.
Senior Federal Judge William K. Sessions III agreed — for the time being — to the government’s request that Griffin be held without bail. The judge said the order was subject to review and he would allow defense lawyer David V. Kirby a chance to develop a possible release plan for review by the court.
Kirby, citing the complexity of the case, asked for 90 days initially to review the evidence and to consider filing any pre-trial motions.
Sessions asked Griffin if he understood that those 90 days would stop the clock under the Federal Speedy Trial Act – which requires criminal trials to happen within 70 days of arraignment.
“I do waive that right, your honor,” said Griffin, who had been placed under oath at the start of the hearing.
Sessions set March 22 for pre-trial motions.
During the 11-minute hearing Griffin, a 1999 graduate of Princeton University, answered some biographical questions and said he understood the reason for the hearing. Before the hearing he conferred with Kirby at the L-shape defense table.
There has been considerable national interest in the case since the FBI arrested Griffin on Dec. 10. It’s likely to increase after the defendant boasted to investigators he is worth $35 million to $40 million, court records filed this week show.
The records also note Griffin did not need a mortgage when he bought his $1.8 million ski house in Ludlow, where the reported illegal sex conduct with a 9-year-old girl happened.
Part of the national interest stems from Griffin’s media background.
Griffin, who was hired by CNN in April 2013, was listed as a senior producer for the cable network, and his LinkedIn profile said he worked “shoulder-to-shoulder with lead anchor Chris Cuomo” when he hosted the morning show, “New Day” until 2018 before moving to prime time.
Griffin was more recently a producer for CNN senior political analyst John Avlon.
Griffin previously worked at ABC News for eight years and did about three years each with Fox News Channel and CBS News, records show.
CNN said it suspended Griffin after learning about his arrest. Three days later the network fired him.
Federal Court personnel in Burlington said they expected some national media, but only one journalist from New York City joined the Vermont press corps Wednesday.
Sessions noted the indictment also includes a request for Griffin to forfeit considerable property to the government. Griffin is fighting that action.
If Griffin is convicted, the government said it wants the Ludlow seasonal home, his 2019 Tesla, a 2018 Mercedes Benz convertible and various computers, phones, cameras and videos that were seized from the defendant on Sept. 2, 2020.
The slope side home at 126 Grouse Lane on Okemo Mountain cost $1,799,000 on Feb. 21, 2020, and was bought by Griff Skis LLC, Ludlow Town records show. John and Allyson Griffin, of Norwalk, Connecticut, control Griff Skis, state records show.
Kirby, a former U.S. attorney for Vermont, stopped briefly after the hearing to chat with reporters, but said he would have nothing to say about the case.
Vermont’s new U.S. Attorney Nikolas “Kolo” Kerest, who was sworn in Dec. 10, did not respond to questions from journalists while leaving the courtroom as one of his assistants tried to shield him. His office had said before the hearing Kerest would not hold a formal news conference.
Kerest’s office had filed this week an unprecedented 17-page detention motion in Vermont. It said Griffin needed to be detained pending trial because he is a risk to flee and a danger to the community. Most federal detention motions in Vermont are normally two or three pages and sometimes can get up to five pages.
The prosecution said Griffin sent $4,000 to a relative of the 9-year-old victim in the sex case.
“This apparent pay-off of a potential witness is not only further evidence of wrong-doing, it is an independent reason for Griffin’s detention. Indeed, making payments to a potential witness in an apparent effort to buy their silence itself justifies Griffin’s pre-trial detention,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher wrote.
Drescher also noted Griffin tried to avoid an arrest for driving under the influence by offering money to the driver he collided with in Plymouth in October 2020.
The Rutland Herald and Times Argus had reported that incident last week. State Police were called, Griffin was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of gross negligent operation, the newspaper said. He paid $3,647 in fines and court costs in April, records show. He maintained he never had a drink before the crash, but when offered an alcohol breath test to prove it, Griffin refused, police said.
“He is a wealthy man who will be desperate to avoid facing justice. He has history of mental illness and substance abuse and has recently consumed intoxicants,” Drescher wrote.
A federal grand jury in Burlington named Griffin in a three-count indictment on Dec. 9 charging him with attempting to entice minors to cross state lines to engage in unlawful sexual activity, records show. The FBI arrested him the next day in New Haven, Connecticut. and he was later ordered removed to Vermont to face the indictment.
The Wednesday hearing in the first floor courtroom, which is shaped like a bowling alley, was Griffin’s first public appearance in Vermont since his arrest. He has been detained in recent days at the Cheshire County Jail in Keene, New Hampshire.
Griffin lured a Nevada mother and a daughter to fly to Logan Airport in Boston in July 2020, indictment said. It said he drove his 2019 Tesla from Ludlow to Boston and brought them back to his home on the side of Okemo Mountain and next to the chairlift.
The unlawful sexual activity happened at the home, the indictment said.
There were at least two other attempted luring cases in April and June 2020, the 10-page indictment said.
Griffin is facing at least a 10-year minimum mandatory prison sentence — and potentially life — if convicted.
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