The U.S. Attorney’s office had moved to revoke Pearson’s bond, set at $300,000 upon his conviction, based on his exile from the reservation and the loss of his incentive payments from the tribe.

U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny listened to arguments from Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Huang, defense attorneys Jeremiah Donovan and Conrad Seifert and Pearson himself before ruling this afternoon on the bond revocation motion. Chatigny said he is satisfied that it is “highly probable” that Pearson would not flee before his February sentencing date.

“I am persuaded of this mostly because I don’t think he will abandon his wife, and she is not going to abandon their son,” the judge said.

Deborah Pearson’s son, Darren, was critically injured in a diving accident last year and remains at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

The jury in U.S. District Court in Hartford found the 50-year-old former deputy chief operating officer of the tribe guilty in November of defrauding investors in a resort on a Honduran island of $280,000. Pearson faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced on Feb. 5th.

The prosecutor argued that Pearson, who owns a home on the Honduran Island of Roatan and has contacts there, is a flight risk. Pearson’s attorneys said even the $300,000 bond is too high compared to bonds set by other judges in white-collar cases. Pearson, who maintains his innocence, told the judge he is “a man of integrity” who has given his word that he will show up.