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         UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 15216 / January 16, 1997 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. JAMIE CHARLES SPANGLER AND
ROBERT ALBERT MERRIFIELD, 95 CV 814-A (W.D.N.Y.)

     The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on
December 2, 1996, the Honorable Richard J. Arcara, United States
District Judge for the Western District of New York, entered a
Final Judgment of Permanent Injunction against defendant Robert
Albert Merrifield ("Merrifield").  The Final Judgment, to which
Merrifield consented without admitting or denying the allegations
of the Complaint, orders that Merrifield:  (1) be permanently
enjoining from committing violations of Section 17(a) of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder; and (2) pay
disgorgement of $28,746.45, which represents the amount alleged
by the Commission to be his gains from the conduct alleged in the
Complaint.  The Final Judgment provides, however, that payment of
disgorgement and prejudgment interest is being waived and that no
civil penalty is imposed, based upon Merrifield's demonstrated
inability to pay.

     The Commission's Complaint, filed on September 20, 1995,
alleged that between February 1991 and June 1992, Merrifield and
Jamie Charles Spangler fraudulently solicited nearly $500,000
from twenty-four unsophisticated investors, almost all of whom
were elderly retirees, in the Buffalo, New York area.  The
Complaint further alleged that, in connection with the offer and
sale of securities of First Legal and Financial Services Ltd. and
Prime Holdings of New York, Inc., Merrifield made material
misrepresentations and omitted to state material facts about the
use of investors' funds, the risks of the investment, diversion
of funds for personal use, the return on investments, predictions
about the companies' future expansion and revenues, the persons
who owned and controlled the companies, and the companies'
financial condition.  The Commission is continuing to litigate
the claims alleged against defendant Spangler.

     For further information see Litigation Release No. 14645
(September 20, 1995).