Highflying former savings and loan owner Donald Ray Dixon goes on trial Wednesday on charges he used depositors' money to finance lavish acquisitions, leaving taxpayers with a $1.3 billion federal bailout. Dixon, 50, traveled the world for gourmet parties and acquired such trinkets as a 17th Century castle door, Baccarat crystal, Remington sculptures, a silver-studded saddle and a posh house in Solana Beach, Calif., just north of San Diego. The government says those luxuries, as well as payments to prostitutes and political campaigns, were financed from the vaults at Vernon Savings & Loan Association, which collapsed under the weight of Dixon's excess in 1987 and was taken over by the government. A dozen other Vernon executives and associates have preceded Dixon in court; 10 have been convicted and a guilty verdict against two others was set aside because the jury discussed Dixon's indictment. ``Perhaps when my day in court comes, if they'll listen, they'll find out what really happened and the blame can be properly assessed and properly assigned,'' Dixon said in July when he was arraigned on a 38-count indictment. The indictment charged him with conspiracy, misapplication of funds, making false statements and other crimes. Jury selection was to begin Wednesday in federal court. Testimony is expected to begin Monday, and continue three to four weeks. If convicted on all counts, Dixon could be sentenced to up to 190 years in prison and fined as much as $9.5 million. An extra-large panel of 75 to 80 potential jurors was called because of publicity in the case, said Jean Hiller, court coordinator for U.S. District Judge Joe A. Fish. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis of Dallas said 40 to 50 prosecution witnesses could testify. Included on that list is a convicted madam, who has confirmed that she supplied prostitutes for Vernon executives when they were in San Diego. Defense and prosecution attorneys declined to discuss the case this week, citing a instructions from Fish. Until the recent notoriety given Neal Bush and Silverado Savings and Loan in Colorado or Charles Keating and Lincoln Savings and Loan in California, Dixon and Vernon were at or near the top of the list of abuses cited in the industry. Dixon's trial is an effort ``to bring to justice people who break the law, who use savings and loan associations as personal piggy banks, and who may have thought they could just walk away free and let the American taxpayer shoulder the cost of their greed,'' said Timothy Ryan, Office of Thrift Supervision director in Washington. Vernon had a luxury yacht and a fleet of five planes worth $6 million. The S&L also paid the $22,000 tab for Dixon's gastronomic tour of European restaurants, the government said. Dixon also is charged with illegal contributions to such politicians as former House Speaker Jim Wright and Jack Kemp, a former Republican congressman from New York who is now Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Recipients of those funds did not know they came from illegal sources, prosecutors have said. When regulators closed Vernon, it was the largest thrift bailout in history, and it remains among the most expensive. Most of the expensive acquisitions have been sold at auction since the government takeover. When regulators closed Vernon, they renamed it Monfort Savings Association. In December 1988, Monfort was one of five insolvent thrifts combined to create First Gibraltar Bank, the largest savings and loan in Texas. Vernon also has resulted in the stiffest sentence to date for an S&L officer. Former Chairman Woody F. Lemons was sentenced to 30 years in prison earlier this year.
