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OAKLAND — Lakireddy Bali Reddy and four of his relatives were back in court Tuesday as a deal with federal attorneys may be unraveling. The five had said in October that they would enter guilty pleas, but Reddy’s son Prasad Lakireddy is now refusing to do so. 

Consequently, U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong discontinued probation assessments for Reddy, 63, his two sons Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, 32, and Prasad Lakireddy, 42, his brother Jayprakash Lakireddy, 48 and his wife, Annapurna Lakireddy, 46, because Prasad Lakireddy has “changed his mind and declines to plead guilty,” according to a statement filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Dec. 18. 

All five face charges of conspiracy to bring aliens into the United States illegally over a 14-year period ending in 1999. The immigrants were allegedly used as cheap labor for a restaurant, construction company and a technology support company owned by family members. 

Reddy, Berkeley’s largest residential real estate holder, faces additional charges of transporting a minor for illegal sexual activity and making false statements on his tax returns. His son Vijay Lakireddy, faces added charges of importation of an alien for immoral purposes and making false statements to the U.S. Department of Labor.  

To get more favorable treatment by the court, the five defendants made plea arrangements with U.S. Assistant Attorney John Kennedy. But the deal, the details of which have not been made public, was good only as long as all five were willing to plead guilty. As part of the agreement, the defendants began a probation assessment, which judges often order to obtain a complete profile of defendants for the purpose of sentencing. 

The Probation Office became concerned when Prasad Lakireddy stopped showing up for his scheduled assessment meetings with a probation officer. Then on Dec. 11, Prasad Lakireddy’s attorney, Paul Wolf, advised the government, the Probation Office and the court that his client would not plead guilty. 

The announcement prompted Armstrong to call a status hearing on Tuesday in which she discontinued the probation assessment and gave the defendants until Feb. 27 to make a final decision about a collective plea. 

According to the Dec. 18 document, if Prasad Lakireddy refuses to plead guilty, or any of the other defendants decide not to plead guilty, Kennedy will convene a new grand jury and bring all five defendants to trial.  

The case came to the attention of Berkeley authorities Nov. 24, 1999, when Chanti Jyotsna Devi Prattipati, 17, died from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning in one of Reddy’s apartments at 2020 Bancroft Way. A passerby called 911 to report she saw a man allegedly putting Prattipati’s body in the back of a van identified as belonging to Reddy Real Estate.  

Reddy, faces no criminal charges in the death but he has been charged with illegally bringing Prattipati and her 15-year-old sister into the United States for illegal sexual exploitation by Reddy himself.