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NY Lawyer Sees Plea Deal Unravel
After By Vesselin Mitev NY Lawyer Admits Stealing $2.1 Million By Anthony Lin A Manhattan lawyer has pleaded guilty to stealing $2.1 million in client funds from an escrow account. Real estate lawyer Ira L. Berman took money placed in his care as down payments on property sales and used it for his personal and office expenses. According to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which announced the guilty plea yesterday, at least eight people lost money that was placed in escrow with Mr. Berman for the purposes of consummating property sales primarily in Manhattan but also in Southampton, N.Y. Prosecutors said about $3.2 million is missing, though $1.1 million remains in the escrow account and will be distributed to Mr. Berman's victims. Mr. Berman, 66, has already been promised a sentence of three-to-nine years in prison on a charge of first-degree grand larceny. NY Lawyer Accused of Stealing $266,000 From Client By Daniel Wise The lawyer, Roger Cohen, 69, pleaded not guilty to one count of third-degree grand larceny and was released on $250,000 bail, according to the Westchester County District Attorney's Office. Mr. Cohen was accused of taking more than $294,000 from the proceeds of a real estate sale for his client, who owned a real estate investment company. The proceeds were supposed to have been placed in an Internal Revenue Services account to be established for the client, whose name was not released. When the client demanded the money's return, Mr. Cohen refunded only $28,671, according to prosecutors. NY Lawyer
Loses License for 30 Months By Daniel Wise The panel also found that the lawyer, Leah Larsen, 68, violated ethical rules by demanding an "exorbitant" fee not backed by time records and by pressuring her client to withdraw a complaint about the fee he had made to the Dutchess County judge handling the divorce. One judge on the panel, Justice James M. McGuire (See Profile), would have disbarred Ms. Larsen. But the majority, consisting of Justices Richard T. Andrias (See Profile), David B. Saxe (See Profile), Eugene Nardelli (See Profile) and John W. Sweeny Jr. (See Profile), found the suspension severe enough in view of Ms. Larsen's previously unblemished 28-year career. According to the opinion in Matter of Larsen, M-5004, Ms. Larsen had told her client, Conrad Tebbetts, that he could pay her with $40,750 from the proceeds of the sale of the divorcing couple's home. Justice James V. Brands had ordered the money be paid into Mr. Tebbetts' 401(k). Mr. Tebbetts suggested Ms. Larsen take only about $30,000 for the fee. Ms. Larsen then sent her client a one-page bill for $168,400, claiming 852 hours of work at $200 an hour without detailing her work, the decision reported. When Mr. Tebbetts wrote to Justice Brands to complain about the bill, Ms. Larsen threatened to collect the entire $138,000 balance due at an arbitration unless he withdrew his letter to the judge. Lawyer's
Bullying Secretary Over Weight Demands By Thomas B. Scheffey Russell is currently on leave from his firm, serving a home confinement sentence for his admitted destruction of a hard drive containing child pornography while working for a Greenwich church. The church's music director was implicated. Russell, a former Bronx, N.Y., assistant district attorney, pled guilty to a single count of obstruction of justice, and was spared prison time. Lamothe says Russell warned her at her first job interview that his law firm was in disarray and that he was a "yeller." Within a few months "he fulfilled his prophecy," with Lamothe resigning after the final outburst. During her course of employment, Russell said she had been a good employee, but harangued the 300-pound woman about her weight gain. She was diagnosed with uterine cancer in February 2006. She had diabetes and testified she was concerned about her ability to have a child. Russell told the court "it's none of my business," about her health problems, but allegedly ordered Lamothe to exercise daily, to walk from the train station, and, she says, "constantly belittled, berated and screamed at her in front of her fellow employees," wrote Gilardi in his Jan. 18 ruling. Russell allegedly told her to "move her fat ass," called her "fat" and threw objects at or near her. The alleged incidents of physical contact convinced Gilardi to issue the pre-judgment remedy. At one time a workman broke a light fixture in a stairwell and Lamothe called the building's management to clean up the debris. Upset, Russell allegedly grabbed her arm and brought her to the basement to get a vacuum cleaner. "When he couldn't open the basement door because the vacuum was in the way he pushed the door open, grabbed the vacuum, and threw it down the stairs, breaking it," Gilardi noted. He then allegedly took Lamothe nearby to the lobby of the Patriot National Bank and "in front of the bank tellers and customers yelled to ask if there was a dust pan or a broom" Lamothe could use, then made her go get them. On another occasion, Lamothe says she was outside smoking a cigarette, and Russell "came up and grabbed the cigarette out of her mouth and stomped it on the ground. He announced to everyone that she is '(expletive) sick' and told her that if he ever saw her smoking again she would be fired," Gilardi recounted. Russell conceded he might have told Lamothe she was sick because she was "fat," Gilardi noted, adding, "He said it was not beyond the realm of possibility that he told plaintiff she was 'retarded.'" Russell, a former member of the Connecticut Law Tribune's editorial board, is defended in this case by Lewis H. Chimes of New Haven, Conn.'s Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Chimes & Richardson. "I think, given the very low standard for a PJR in Connecticut, this wasn't a surprise, although I was surprised at the amount," Chimes said. "I think once the facts are known, it will be clear this is a garden variety workplace stress situation. [The tort of] Intentional infliction of emotional distress has a very high standard, and 90 percent of claims are not allowed." He added, "I don't think this case meets this threshold." Lamothe is represented by the five-lawyer New Milford, Conn., firm of Guendelsberger, Collins, Henry & Guendelsberger. Her lawyer, Rebecca E. Guendelsberger, said her client is currently employed in a Bridgeport law office. She said the judge, "obviously recognized that my client was hurt. This is something that no employee should have to experience, especially someone who works for an attorney." Disbarred
Lawyer Gets 41-Month By The Associated Press A federal judge has sentenced former Lafayette, La. attorney Mel Credeur to 41 months in a federal prison and ordered him to pay more than $769,000 in restitution. Credeur accepted a plea agreement last year and pleaded to one count of making false statements to a bank and one count of forging securities of private entities. He had been indicted in 2006 on charges that he lied to banks by asking for extensions on attorney-client lines of credit, even though he had already settled their cases. Prior to the plea agreement, Credeur also faced 23 counts of forging securities of private entities, stemming from allegations that he settled his clients' cases without their knowledge and then kept their settlements by forging their signatures. According to the plea agreement, Credeur faced possible fines of more than $1 million and up to 40 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Richard Haik on Tuesday sentenced Credeur to 41 months on each count to run concurrently and five years of supervised release afterward. Credeur was disbarred in
April 2007, according to a release from the Louisiana Supreme Court.
By The Associated Press A Memphis attorney who testified last year against a partner who stole from clients now faces accusations that he stole as well. Phoebe Copeland claims in a lawsuit that J. Richard Rossie stole more than $346,000 from her after she granted him power of attorney to handle her estate. Copeland hopes to block any settlement between Rossie and Darrelle Miller, another client who is suing the attorney, claiming Rossie stole more than $1 million from her. Rossie's attorney, James Wilson, could not be reached for comment on Thursday. Copeland's attorneys argue that a settlement with Miller would make Rossie insolvent and unable to pay Copeland. Chancellor Arnold Goldin has issued a restraining order temporarily preventing Rossie from distributing any money. According to a financial statement, Rossie is worth $3.85 million, but Copeland's attorneys say much of that is immune from judgment. Copeland is accusing Rossie of taking her money by writing at least 42 checks to himself between August 2000 and June 2007, using funds from the law firm's escrow account. He then deposited the money in personal accounts at various banks, the suit alleges. Rossie is a former partner of John Houser Parker who pleaded guilty last year to stealing nearly $2 million from clients and was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Rossie testified against Parker at a sentencing hearing. State prosecutor Steve Crossnoe would not say whether he is considering criminal charges against Rossie. Lawyer
Who Sexually Assaulted Five or More Minors By Amaris Elliott-Engel A former Philadelphia criminal defense attorney convicted of several sex crimes with minors, including an estimated five incidents in the Criminal Justice Center, was sentenced last week to serve 25 to 50 years in prison. Larry Charles, 50, was sentenced Thursday by an out-of-county judge, Berks Common Pleas Senior Judge Albert A. Stallone, for sex crimes between 1999 and 2007 related to six girls authorities said Charles raped, molested or groped. Charles pleaded no contest to crimes including rape, indecent assault and corruption of minors. He received consecutive sentences for the crimes related to each of the girls, including seven to 14 years for raping a 5-year-old girl. The girl was raped vaginally and anally in both a motel in New Jersey and a bank deposit room, said Jim Carpenter, the assistant chief of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office's family violence and sexual assault unit. Authorities said Charles sexually abused the girls in both of his offices in Center City and Southwest Philadelphia, in the deposit rooms of banks, in the Criminal Justice Center (CJC) and in motels. The criminal case against Charles broke open when sheriff's deputies found him with a 14-year-old girl after engaging in sexual contact with her in a third-floor attorneys' lounge at the CJC on Martin Luther King Day 2007. Deputies began searching for Charles because they found it unusual that he was in the building on a public holiday with a young girl; Deputy Andrew Ortiz had to break down the door, and the girl was found cowering inside, Carpenter said. Charles was found naked. "We were very pleased with this sentence," said Carpenter, who prosecuted Charles. "It reflects the terrible damage he's done to these six girls. It also reflects his offense not only against his profession but against the courthouse where you seek justice and truth." In addition to the sexual encounter that the sheriff's deputies disrupted, Charles raped a 16-year-old in the rear room of the lawyers' lounge and also sexually molested a girl in the anteroom outside a courtroom and twice pulled girls onto his lap in the lawyers' lounge, Carpenter said. Charles' defense attorney, Angelo Cameron, had sought for Charles to be sentenced to five to 10 years in prison and supervised counseling. He wanted a "controlled environment and psychiatric treatment" for his client, Cameron said, "because pedophilia is a mental abnormality." Philadelphia Common Pleas President Judge C. Darnell Jones II said that after Charles was initially arrested, the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office, which controls security for the CJC, reviewed if more restricted access should be instituted for the building, but it was ultimately determined that attorneys do need to meet and work inside the CJC at varied hours. It also was decided that Charles' activities were an aberration so the sheriff's CJC protocols were found to be sufficient, Jones said. "It's one-in-a-billion for a lawyer to do something like that," Jones said. Two of the girls, and four of the other girls were from the same family, Carpenter said. "He basically used his influence and his status to gain the trust of families, particularly families in difficult circumstances, and then used that trust to isolate the girls, buy them things, use treats and to groom them for sexual contact," Carpenter said. He used force when the girls resisted, Carpenter said. Once the MLK incident opened up awareness into Charles' activities, some of the other victims came forward and law enforcement conducted an investigation, including verifying motel records and bank surveillance tape footage, the prosecutor said. Charles was ruled to be a sexually violent predator and a pedophile strongly attracted to both pre-pubescent and post-pubescent children during a Megan's Law hearing held before his sentencing, Carpenter said. Cameron has not discussed yet with Charles if he wants to appeal his sentencing. Charles will not be eligible for parole until he's 75, Carpenter said. Charles did have remorse for his actions, Cameron said. Charles agreed to an emergency suspension of his legal license after his arrest in January. Corporate
Attorneys Mull Meaning New York Lawyer Has the
indictment Tuesday of Mayer
Brown partner Joseph P. Collins sent "a chill down the spine" of
transactional lawyers everywhere, as Mr. Collins' defense lawyer
said it should? Solo
Faces 73 Criminal Counts for Leading 25-Year, By Amaris Elliott-Engel Personal injury attorney H. Allen Litt, 58, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., has been charged along with 14 others in a scam involving falsifying personal injuries from made-up or exaggerated slip-and-fall and auto accident cases and submitting fraudulent insurance claims, Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham said. Litt was charged with 73 criminal counts, including 31 third-degree felonies of insurance fraud and one first-degree felony of corrupt organizations. Litt, who was admitted to practice law in 1975, is accused of working with 100 runners who both located potential imposter claimants or posed as claimants, according to a grand jury presentment charging Litt and his co-defendants. The imposters would obtain medical care from physicians selected by Litt and rack up inflated medical bills via numerous visits to the Litt-selected doctors, the grand jury charged. Some claimants actually took falls or had an injury from another instance but still participated in a fraudulent fall or accident claim at the behest of the runners, the grand jury charged. Litt would file fraudulent insurance claims based on the doctors' bills and bogus photographs taken by the runners, the grand jury charged. Four runners alone brought in 300 claims for which insurance companies paid $2.5 million, according to the grand jury presentment. Runners received commissions for bringing in cases and for taking pictures of fraudulent accident scenes, the presentment charged. Abraham cited the Charles Dickens' story Oliver Twist about an orphan sucked into a crime ring and called Litt the equivalent of the story's Fagin, the Dickensian criminal mastermind. The 25 years of alleged fraud and "hundreds upon hundreds and hundreds of fake accidents" probably involved much more than the $2.5 million, Abraham said. Abraham's office plans to seek a judge's imprimatur on an exception to the statue of limitations in order to be able to prosecute Litt for more fraud-based charges. Litt was scheduled to be arrested at the office of his attorney, Marc Neff, at noon yesterday, Abraham said. A call to Neff's office was not returned. There was no answer at Litt's 1515 Market St. office. Litt also was charged with one first-degree felony count of conspiracy, 21 third-degree felony counts of theft by deception, 13 third-degree felony counts of attempted theft by deception, four counts of second-degree misdemeanor of false swearing, one first-degree felony count of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and one third-degree felony, count of criminal use of a communication facility. Litt could face up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine for each first-degree felony, seven years in prison and up to a $15,000 fine for each third-degree felony, and two years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine for each second-degree misdemeanor. The grand jury evidence included testimony from three alleged runners for Litt: Lewis Crump, a North Philadelphia man who said he was in the "accident business," James "Big Frank" Guinn, a taxi driver who based himself at 27th and Tasker streets in South Philadelphia and Nathaniel Shaw, who said he was a real estate investor and landlord in North and West Philadelphia. All three men have already pleaded guilty to insurance fraud as part of plea bargains. They revealed Litt "relied on a stable of runners like themselves to recruit friends and family members who pretended to fall and faked injuries in order to file false insurance claims. He then paid the runners, usually between $100 and $1,000 per case," the grand jury charged. According to the grand jury presentment, the 132 claims brought by Shaw to Litt involved more than $1 million, and Shaw was paid $47,000. The 36 claims brought by Guinn to Litt brought in $100,000, and Guinn was paid $12,000, the presentment said. Crump allegedly brought 10 to 12 cases to Litt. The runners "worked on commission and they were more than happy to recruit," Abraham said. Shaw, who first met Litt when he was involved in a legitimate trolley accident, said Litt was aware the 132 cases he brought him were fraudulent, but Litt would pretend with these clients that he was not involved in the fraud, the grand jury charged. Litt, however, coached Shaw to choose accident sites that involved a cracked sidewalk or a broken step and no surveillance cameras; Litt also told Shaw to instruct the imposter claimants to go to an emergency room and complain of injuries from a fall, the grand jury charged. Shaw's imposter-accident recruits complained that Litt promised them big money if they made frequent appointments with the doctors he referred to them, but that their share of settlements were tiny, according to the grand jury presentment. Litt dismissed the complaints, the grand jury charged, and said: "Don't worry about it. They're not hurt anyway, and I got to pay the medical bills and got to pay the doctors." Iris Kurtz, the receptionist in Litt's office, testified that Litt directed her to improperly notarize releases of settlements without obtaining the signatures of the clients, the grand jury charged. According to the grand jury presentment, Shaw learned that an investigation was being undertaken of his and Litt's activities from two women he had recruited to take part in fraudulent claims. In response, according to the grand jury presentment, Litt got Shaw to obtain retraction statements from both women. Those statements were not submitted to the district attorney, but instead were turned over to an investigator and were introduced as evidence in front of the grand jury. Files were seized from Litt's office in December 2005, and Litt asked Shaw to contact the claimants involved in the cases in those files, but Shaw refused during a phone call with Litt, the grand jury charged. "In response, Litt announced, 'things are going to get ugly,' and hung up," according to the presentment. Guinn said that he drew claimants from 16 of his neighbors that he called the "Tasker Street Crew," according to the presentment. Guinn said he followed Litt's instructions to find holes in front of "well-off, but not too big, businesses" that didn't have a lot of attorneys to fight a case but would have more money to pay out than Chinese or Korean businesses, the grand jury charged. Abraham said that the investigation is continuing into at least 10 doctors that Litt allegedly referred fraudulent clients to. The investigation into Litt and his alleged cohorts began with an October 2004 tip from an insurance fraud investigator with Chubb Insurance Co., Abraham said. A search of Litt's office revealed hundreds of documents, including accounting file cards, canceled checks and accident scene photos, according to the grand jury's presentment. Litt was "really very helpful to us," Abraham said. "He kept great records." Linda Perkins, chief of the District Attorney's Office's Insurance Fraud Unit, said Litt is an exception to the rule and that most attorneys are honest and withdraw a claim for a fraudulent accident. Joshua Pitts, 63, of Philadelphia, was Litt's most active runner, according to the presentment. Over 400 checks totaling more than $190,000 were issued to Pitts from Litt, according to records seized from Litt's office, the grand jury charged. Pitts and three of his adult children were charged each with one count of insurance fraud and related offenses, according to the District Attorney's Office. Ten alleged co-conspirators, including Crump, Guinn and Shaw, have already been arrested. Some have pleaded guilty as part of plea bargains and have agreed to testify against Litt. Samuel Stretton, an attorney who writes an ethics column for Pennsylvania Law Weekly, The Legal's sister publication, and who often represents jurists in legal quandaries, said that Litt will most likely be able to continue practicing law pending the outcome of his court case. But the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court can seek more immediate action on Litt's law license by requesting that a hearing be held on suspending Litt from practicing law on an interim basis, Stretton said. Attorney
Get 15 Years in Prison for New York Lawyer MIAMI -- Saying he would mete out a longer sentence if he could, U.S. District Court Judge Alan Gold handed down the strictest prison sentence possible under federal guidelines -- 15 years -- for one-time high-flying Miami attorney Louis S. Robles for bilking elderly clients out of more than $13 million. Gold had previously rejected a plea deal worked out for Robles by the U.S. Attorney's office that would have resulted in 10 years behind bars for the 59-year-old lawyer, saying it was too lenient. Besides serving 15 years in prison, Gold ordered Robles to pay $13.5 million in restitution and work 900 hours of community service in a nursing home. He must also relinquish his law license for good. The attorney represented more than 7,000 asbestos clients from the late 1980s through February 2003. Federal prosecutors said he operated an elaborate Ponzi scheme. Clients -- many elderly and dying -- would not be paid until he misappropriated money from other clients. Nearly 4,400 clients were defrauded, the government said. Robles pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud on Sept. 17 for misappropriating settlements in asbestos lawsuits, defrauding thousands of clients nationwide. He paid little or nothing to clients while living in the lap of luxury with two full-time servants, a private plane and a waterfront mansion on Key Biscayne. The lawyer "abused the special trust that his clients placed in him," U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement late Tuesday. "Robles sought out clients who were dying and cheated them out of millions of dollars, so that he could finance his own extravagant lifestyle." Attorney Indicted for Helping Clients Avoid $4.6M in Taxes By Shannon P. Duffy Also named in the indictment are eight of Bagdis' clients and two of his employees. U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan alleged in a news release that Bagdis "was so proud of his schemes that he boasted he would write a book and call it Federal Tax Fraud, The User's Guide." The indictment alleged that Bagdis has not filed an individual federal tax return since at least 1990 and was captured on tape saying the government investigation of him would be "a fight to the death." Bagdis was charged with one count of attempting to impede and obstruct the IRS, seven counts of conspiracy, 16 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of a false tax return, six counts of failing to file individual income tax returns and five counts of failing to file currency transaction reports. Attorney Arrested in Internet Sex Sting at Statehouse By John McCarthy COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An attorney arrested in an Internet child-sex sting in the basement of the Ohio Statehouse thought he was going to meet a 15-year-old girl he had met online, authorities said. Barry Mentser, 48, a former children's services lawyer, was taken into custody Wednesday moments after the police officer who conducted the sting testified two floors above in favor of a bill that would increase penalties for such offenses. Lt. Jeff Braley, a detective from Hamilton Township in Warren County in southwest Ohio, said he posed as the girl to set up a Statehouse meeting with the man. "I said, 'I'm in Columbus.' He said, 'I'll meet you anywhere,'" Braley said. Braley, who said he'd been communicating with the man for about a year, testified before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee in favor of a bill that would set mandatory sentences of one to five years for the offense of importuning by telecommunications, aimed at sexual offenders who prey upon underage children through the Internet. Braley said he didn't arrange the sting at the Statehouse to draw attention to the bill or his testimony, but that he knew the man was in the Columbus area and that police were aware of his identity. Undercover Columbus police officers spotted Mentser in the Statehouse cafeteria, where Braley had set up the meeting, said city police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner. A security video later made available by Statehouse officials showed a man identified as Mentser walking from one side of the basement to the other, then back across, toward the cafeteria. The Statehouse is a popular stop for school field trips, but there were none scheduled Wednesday, and the building had few visitors besides people attending legislative sessions and hearings, said Statehouse spokesman Gregg Dodd. Mentser, of nearby Gahanna, is married with three children, The Columbus Dispatch reported. He was charged with importuning and attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, Weiner said. If convicted he could face from one year to 30 months in jail. Defense attorney Steve Palmer said Thursday he expected Mentser would enter a not guilty plea. "He had no prior record whatsoever, criminal or otherwise, and this sort of came out of left field," Palmer told WCMH-TV. His client remained in the Franklin County jail Thursday afternoon, hours after a judge set bond at $50,000. Mentser was scheduled to return to court Nov. 9 for a preliminary hearing. Current Ohio law doesn't require prison sentences for people convicted of importuning by telecommunications. Many judges say sexual acts typically don't occur in undercover stings, so they take a "no harm, no foul" stance and sentence offenders to just weeks in jail and probation, Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel said after testifying before the committee. Braley said he'd arrested about 35 people as the result of such sting operations in the past year. "The Internet has served as a very fertile preying ground for these predators," Braley told committee members. Mentser was a staff attorney for Franklin County Children's Services from 1987 to 1990, when he resigned, agency spokeswoman Kay Marshall said. He had no direct contact with children outside of court while employed there and no complaints were filed with the agency about him, Marshall said. Disbarred
NY Lawyer Headed By Daniel Wise The ex-lawyer, Richard Boter, has agreed to a sentence of at least one year in prison and to pay $160,000 in restitution and forfeiture, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Mr. Boter was the twelfth attorney to be netted by the office's probe into the use of runners by personal injury lawyers to bribe hospital employees to gain access to potential clients. Mr. Boter had purchased cases from various runners, at least one of whom had bribed hospital employees to gain confidential information about patients, who were often being treated for injuries sustained in automobile accidents, according the the district attorney. To date, the 12 lawyers caught in the investigation have agreed to pay restitution or forfeiture of $1.7 million. With regard to Mr. Boter, who was disbarred last month for treating clients like "commodities", the district attorney's office said he had stolen client funds by keeping their share of settlement proceeds. He was able to do that by settling cases without his clients' permission and then forging their signatures on release forms forwarded to insurance companies to obtain the release of the settlement funds, the office said. Missing Local Lawyer Turns Up Dead By Douglas S. Malan The Connecticut Law Tribune New York Lawyer October 30, 2007 The saga of missing Clinton, Conn., lawyer Jonathan Hoyt has ended with his suicide in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Hoyt, a 59-year-old business law attorney believed to have embezzled close to $700,000 from about a dozen clients, was found by police Monday around 11 a.m. in his one-bedroom apartment that he had been renting since Aug. 30. Cedar Rapids police Lt. Kenneth Washburn said there was "no indication of foul play," without providing further details. Dr. Donald J. Linder, chief medical examiner of Linn County in Iowa, said that Hoyt's death was "a well-planned suicide," but declined to comment further until a final autopsy report is ready within a couple of weeks. Police were called by Hoyt's landlord, Richard G. Hileman, a semiretired lawyer from Cedar Rapids. Hileman said that Hoyt began renting the apartment two months ago under the name Jim Bragg of NY Biz Systems, a company Hoyt portrayed as assisting companies going through bankruptcy and other financial difficulties. Hileman received a letter in the mail from Hoyt on Monday: "It said that by the time I had received the letter, he would've committed suicide and not to call 9-1-1 because he didn't want anyone to be hurt rushing over to the apartment," Hileman said. Hoyt signed the letter using his real name, Hileman noted. "I didn't quite know what to make of it," Hileman added. "I thought I was getting his rent check or his 30-day notice" of vacating the apartment for which he was paying $470 per month. Hileman said he drove to the apartment building and told his wife to call the police. Hileman added that he had had only brief encounters with Hoyt but had found him to be a "very likeable guy. "He had only been here two months, and I really didn't know the gentleman," Hileman said. "[Hoyt's stay] was just unremarkable until [Monday]." Hoyt had been missing since early July. Clinton police officers investigating the case estimate that Hoyt embezzled almost $700,000. Fugitive Local Lawyer Leaving Few Clues for Cops By Douglas S. Malan Police say the trail has gone cold in the case of missing Clinton, Conn., lawyer Jonathan Hoyt. The 58-year-old business law attorney was last seen in early July before he left behind his tan 1999 Lexus and cryptic letters in which he confessed to embezzling funds from clients. Police said they received tips from acquaintances and colleagues in July and August, but leads in the case have since come to a halt. "There hasn't been anything for a while," said William F. Tate, a public information officer with the state police. "Nothing has come from [tips we received this summer]. We're still looking." The state police Criminal Intelligence Unit has taken over the case, which is standard protocol after 30 days. The unit is working with local police in Westbrook, where Hoyt lived, and in Clinton, where he based his practice. Clinton Sgt. Joseph Flynn said Hoyt has "totally dropped off the grid" with no credit card or cell phone activity. Flynn, who led the Clinton Police Department’s investigation of Hoyt, estimates that the missing lawyer embezzled close to $700,000 from about a dozen clients. Flynn added that he doesn't know if Hoyt is alive or dead. "I wouldn’t be surprised either way, at this point," he said. "There's a good chance he's offed himself, but I don't know how or where. It's pretty baffling." Family in Shock In one letter sent to grievance officials in July, Hoyt cleared his assistants and his son Christopher by taking sole responsibility for "the thefts that have happened concerning The Hoyt Law Group, LLC Connecticut's office." Hoyt wrote a letter to his son, dated July 7: " have embezzled funds from my clients … . Like most lawyers who fall into this trap I always did it with the idea that I would repay the funds, but of course once I started down this slippery slope there was nothing but failure for me at the end." Hoyt's confessions and disappearance come "as a shock to the family," Christopher said in an interview. Christopher Hoyt practices intellectual property, business and criminal law out of the firm's New York office. "I'm not at liberty to make a statement that might jeopardize the investigation," he added. "The family is very concerned. Nobody knows where he is." Flynn said he believes Christopher Hoyt is telling the truth. The elder Hoyt was last seen on July 6 at his Clinton office, according to police. His Lexus 300, four-door sedan was found by police on July 17 in a parking lot near the Intermodal Transportation Center in Bridgeport. On July 20, Middletown Superior Court Judge Julia L. Aurigemma accepted the state disciplinary counsel's application to immediately suspend the elder Hoyt's law license. Legal Aid Lawyer Admits Videotaping Female Co-workers By Barbara Ross and Bill
Hutchinson A former Legal Aid Society lawyer pleaded guilty Wednesday to using a spy camera to videotape female co-workers changing their clothes in their office. Peter Barta won't go to jail for behavior he admitted was "creepy, disrespectful, juvenile and stupid," but he will lose his law license. "I offer no excuse or justification for my action. My behavior was inexcusable," added Barta, 32, in a letter he submitted to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus. But before admitting to felony crime of unlawful surveillance, he asked that the charge be dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor. "I'm not asking for forgiveness, but an opportunity to earn it," Barta of Queens said in his letter. Obus refused to reduce the charges, but agreed to go along with a recommendation from prosecutors to show mercy when Barta is sentenced Dec. 3. Under the plea agreement, the case will be dismissed and sealed once Barta completes a year of probation and counseling. A Georgetown University Law School graduate, Barta began working as a Legal Aid attorney in 2001. Between May 2004 and October 2006, he used a $179 Sharper Image minicam hidden in a clock to videotape female colleagues changing their clothes. The women would use an office to change out of their casual clothes into more dressy attire to appear in court. When investigators searched Barta's Kew Gardens home, they found it full of porn and adult toys, according to court papers. Claims of
Adultery, Forgery Have Firm New York Lawyer Daniel Portnoy wasn't having much luck. For days he'd been tracking his quarry. First he had called his house. Then he began stopping by unannounced, only to be turned away by a woman who said the man he sought was out of town. But now, on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 2, after days of mounting frustration, he finally had his target in his sights. As Portnoy watched from a parked car up the block, Albert Beveridge III, name partner of the Washington-based environmental boutique Beveridge & Diamond, pulled his silver Acura up to his home in the tony neighborhood of Wesley Heights in Northwest Washington. As Beveridge headed to his front door, Portnoy moved in, but the 72-year-old corporate litigator was too quick for him, doubling back into his car before Portnoy could reach him. As Portnoy ran back to his own car, Beveridge raced down the street to shake his pursuer. The chase was on. As Portnoy would later recount in a sworn affidavit, he soon caught up with Beveridge at a stoplight at the corner of Nebraska and New Mexico avenues, but when he tried to talk to Beveridge, the lawyer responded by executing a quick U-turn, brushing Portnoy out of the way. But Portnoy still managed to make his long-thwarted delivery, sticking a subpoena under the Acura's windshield wiper as Beveridge sped away. The incident was just the latest twist in a sordid story that has ensnared partners at 95-lawyer Beveridge & Diamond in allegations that include adultery and forgery. The dispute stems from a bitter divorce battle between firm partner John Guttmann and his wife, Nancy Lasater, a nonpracticing attorney who was previously co-chairwoman of the Law Practice Management Section of the D.C. Bar and a solo practitioner who often represented firms on ethics issues. The couple's real-life "War of the Roses" has pulled a litany of well-known Washington lawyers into the fray, including the elusive Beveridge, who is now senior counsel at the firm and was subpoenaed to testify about his role as a former trustee of the firm's 401(k) program. It was Lasater, acting pro se, who persuaded Maryland state Judge Durke Thompson to issue the subpoena to Beveridge, based on her allegation that Guttmann forged her signature while taking out a loan from the firm's 401(k) plan in 1993. That loan is one of three Lasater is investigating. "I'm entitled to all of the documents surrounding these three loans," Lasater says. "I need information." The firm argued against subpoenaing Beveridge because of his age and the fact that nearly 14 years have passed since the disputed loan was executed. But that argument didn't get far with Thompson. "If Mr. Guttmann is dipping into the 401(k) without Ms. Lasater's permission at the time and altered documents and now says 'I can't remember what I did,' it doesn't look too good," Thompson said during a Sept. 24 hearing on the firm's motion to quash the subpoena, according to a transcript. "And it may not look too good for Mr. Beveridge either if, indeed, there isn't an adequate documentation in the file." The firm and Guttmann both say Lasater's allegations are much ado about very little. "Mr. Guttmann denies Ms. Lasater's allegations and intends to defend himself vigorously," says Guttmann's attorney, Mark Carlin, a partner at Ain & Bank. "The only fair inference is that incomplete and misinformation was given to the Legal Times in a deliberate effort to embarrass Mr. Guttmann and to extract a larger settlement for Ms. Lasater." The firm hired Evan Miller, an Employee Retirement Income Security Act partner at Jones Day (who was formerly at Hogan & Hartson) and Hogan & Hartson ethics partner John Keeney Jr., to look into Lasater's allegations. Both lawyers concluded there was no wrongdoing on the part of the firm. Which isn't to say there were no problems. "I wish that we had been more scrupulous with the paperwork," says Robert Brager, managing partner of Beveridge & Diamond, "because then this wouldn't be an issue. "The firm," he adds, "is behind John 1,000 percent." Signing Your Wife's Name Guttmann is an environmental litigation partner focusing on commercial and securities cases. According to a court document filed by Lasater, he is the billing partner for the firm's largest client, Sunoco Inc. Lasater cites his high profile as an incentive for the firm "not to have to report itself for disciplinary proceedings under the affirmative whistle-blowing obligations." In 1995, Guttmann was tabbed by The American Lawyer as one of the 45 best lawyers under 45 years of age. At the time, Guttmann was serving as managing partner of the burgeoning environmental firm. When he stepped down at the end of his six-year run in January 1996, he left behind a record of tremendous growth. Under Guttmann's guidance, Beveridge & Diamond's head count and profits doubled, jumping to 60 lawyers and gross revenue of about $60 million. But it was also during this period that Guttmann served as one of three trustees to the firm's 401(k) plan. While a trustee, he took out three loans from his 401(k) over a three-year period beginning in 1992. In total, Guttmann borrowed $103,693 from the retirement plan. But taking those loans required spousal approval. And because of what the firm acknowledges is "sloppy bookkeeping," there is now a dispute over whether that approval was ever obtained. Lasater claims she had no knowledge of the three loans. She says it was only through discovery during the divorce proceedings that she came across copies of three promissory notes. "He took money out of our account without my consent," Lasater says. "I don't know where that money went." While she acknowledges that the first and third loan appear to have her signature, she maintains that the second loan, for just under $33,000, does not have her signature. About that fact, there appears to be no dispute. According to an August 2007 deposition, Guttmann says he wrote his wife's signature on the promissory note dated April 1994, but contends it was with her blessing. She insists that's not the case. "I haven't the faintest idea," said Guttmann, when asked in his deposition if he was aware of any other 401(k) participants at the firm receiving loans without the paperwork being done first. Further clouding the matter is the fact that records show that the effective date of the loan was in December 1993, but that the promissory note wasn't signed by the firm administrator until February 1994. And Guttmann did not sign the loan document for both himself and Lasater until April 1994. Beveridge, who was then a trustee of the firm's 401(k) program, signed his name without dating his signature. Beveridge declined to comment for this story. These points in particular drew Judge Thompson's attention. "It's certainly not Ms. Lasater's signature, and it's a little fuzzy whether she consented or whether he just forged it," Thompson said during the Sept. 24 court hearing, according to a transcript. "What does that mean? That means he [Guttmann] is committing acts of moral turpitude which could affect his license to practice. ... And if the law firm through the 401(k) and its trustees hasn't done what they were supposed to do, guess what, the law firm is now liable, OK?" An 'Alternative' Investment? Beveridge & Diamond was made aware of the loan dispute in a letter Lasater sent to the firm in December 2006. The firm responded on Jan. 7 with a letter from its general counsel, Cynthia Lewis, saying it would look into the allegations. The firm then hired Jones Day's Miller to investigate, and he concluded that there were no ERISA violations. In a letter to Lasater sent in March, Miller said the loan had been paid back in full and at a reasonable rate of interest. Miller added that "any adverse effect on the value of Mr. Guttmann's 401(k) plan account would be both speculative and trivial. And, in any event, the statute of limitations on ERISA violations you assert has long since expired." Miller says that prior to being withdrawn, the money Guttmann took from the 401(k) plan was invested in treasury bills and money markets, which provided the investment return of roughly 3.8 percent. The loans Guttmann repaid had an 8 percent interest rate. "It becomes an alternative investment that, at the end of the day, had more money in it as a consequence of the loan being at 8 percent," Miller says. "Ms. Lasater actually saw her interests as a contingent beneficiary enhanced." But Lasater says she does not know what Guttmann did with the money he borrowed. ERISA lawyers agree that there appears to be no violation by Guttmann, but there is puzzlement over the loan being approved before Guttmann signed the promissory note. "It would seem odd that a firm would permit the execution of a promissory note well after the loan had been executed to the participant," says Kenneth Robbett, an ERISA lawyer at Robbett & Robbett. Accounting for an Affair For Lasater, the issues aren't limited to Guttmann and the disputed loans. Dean "Holly" Cannon, a partner at the firm and managing partner from 1996 through the summer of 2001, admitted in an August 2006 deposition to having an affair with Guttmann that began in May 2005, six months before Guttmann filed for divorce, according to a transcript of that deposition. She is also helping Guttmann pay his soaring legal fees in the case. According to court documents and copies of personal checks produced by Guttmann in the litigation and provided to Legal Times by Lasater, Cannon has contributed more than $300,000 to help Guttmann pay his lawyers at Ain & Bank. Cannon declined to comment. According to court documents, Guttmann has signed promissory notes to repay the money to Cannon. Lasater alleges in a court document that Guttmann is borrowing money from Cannon and claiming it as a loan in order to "reduce both his obligation to support his family and to negate his equitable obligation to reimburse my legal fees." Court documents show Guttmann's assets totaling $2 million, with a net worth of $1.6 million. He claimed a gross monthly wage of $45,695. Guttmann declined to comment. Beveridge's Brager, who says he has been friends with Guttmann for roughly 20 years, has also been pulled into the fray. According to both Lasater and Brager, he told a psychologist appointed by the court to determine custody of the couple's two children that they would be better off with Guttmann. "Nancy has accused me of unethical conduct for talking to the psychologist," Brager says. "She's threatened to report me to the D.C. Bar. That claim on me reflects on her." This isn't the only pending litigation between Lasater and Guttmann. In August 2005, before Guttmann filed for divorce, Lasater filed a fraud case against him in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Md., alleging he moved money to a secret bank account. In that case, Lasater, who is seeking $2 million in punitive damages, is represented by Timothy McEvoy, a partner at Odin, Feldman & Pittleman. The case has been stayed by Judge Ann Harrington until the divorce is settled. The divorce trial date is Oct. 29. Moreover, there remains a question as to whether Guttmann could be subject to an ethics investigation by the D.C. Office of Bar Counsel. The investigation done on the firm's behalf by Hogan's Keeney determined that Beveridge & Diamond attorneys overseeing the 401(k) did not violate any ethics laws. "We were responding to a letter that said attorneys who received the authorization to execute the loan acted unethically," Keeney says. "And that's just not true." But Keeney says he did not specifically look into whether Guttmann acted unethically. Barry Cohen, a legal ethics and malpractice partner at Crowell & Moring, says the D.C. rules of conduct for lawyers are clear. "If he signed her name without her permission then it would be, for ethics purposes, a dishonest act," Cohen says. "It would fall under the category of dishonesty and could result in a censure or a suspension. We'd need to know the facts and the motivation."
Lawyer's Assistant Wore Wire LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- An assistant to one of three lawyers charged bilking clients of millions of dollars in a diet drug settlement wore a wire and turned over notes of meetings to the FBI, a defense attorney said. Rebecca Phipps, an administrative assistant to Melbourne Mills Jr., secretly recorded conversations as early as June 2006 as the FBI investigated how Mills, William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham handled a $200 million settlement over the diet drug fen-phen, said Mills' attorney, Jim Shuffett of Lexington. "It appears reasonably certain that an intentional violation of (Mills') right to counsel occurred and that a hearing is necessary to develop and remedy the parameters of that violation," Shuffett said. Gallion and Cunningham, who are part owners of Preakness winner Curlin, and Mills are jailed in northern Kentucky pending a trial in January on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A civil court has ruled that they owe at least $42 million to their former clients. The use of Phipps as an informant became known in a motion filed last week seeking to exclude any evidence that Phipps turned over to FBI agent Mary Trotman. Shuffett wants U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman to hold a hearing to determine whether the evidence turned over by Phipps can be used against Mills in a criminal trial set for Jan. 7. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Lexington did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday morning. Mills wants 63 handwritten notes and 293 pages of e-mails and other memos Phipps turned over to federal authorities excluded from evidence in the case. Those notes involve meetings she attended between Mills and former attorney William Johnson or current attorneys James Shuffett and Calvin Fulkerson. Federal prosecutors turned over Phipps' information as part of the discovery process. But, prosecutors also told Shuffett that some of the information provided by Phipps could be protected under attorney-client privilege. Typically, attorney-client privilege does not extend to others who hear conversations between attorneys and their clients. However, because Phipps was working as Mills' legal assistant, the privilege also extends to her, Shuffett said. According to Shuffett's motion, Phipps wrote in July 2006 that her attorney, Burl McCoy, called and told her that an FBI agent on the case wanted her to attend a meeting at the office of Johnson, who was then representing Mills in a civil lawsuit regarding the settlement. McCoy said Phipps has cooperated with the FBI and will most likely continue to cooperate. Trotman has testified that the attorneys, who represented about 440 clients sickened by fen-phen, settled the case for $200 million. Trotman said the clients received $74.8 million from the settlement. Gallion received $30.4 million; Mills, $23.7 million; and Cunningham $20.7 million. A chunk of the settlement also went to other attorneys and employees involved in the case. Bertelsman has said that millions of dollars are still unaccounted for. Cunningham, 52, and Gallion, 56, bought Curlin for $57,000 as a yearling through their Midnight Cry Stable. They sold controlling interest in the horse in February for a reported $3.5 million to a group composed of Jess Jackson, founder of Kendall-Jackson wines; Satish Sanan's Padua Stables; and George Bolton, an investment banker. Fla.
Prosecutor Charged in Sex Sting Kills Self Associated Press DETROIT - A federal prosecutor from Florida accused of flying to Detroit last month to molest a 5-year-old girl committed suicide in his cell Friday in federal prison, authorities said. Assistant U.S. Attorney John D.R. Atchison was found unresponsive, taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, said Felicia Ponce, spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington. A previous suicide attempt was foiled in September, according to authorities. Atchison was being held in a special housing unit in the prison in Milan, about 36 miles southwest of Detroit. The administrative detention area houses all levels of prisoners, and Atchison had a cell to himself, Ponce said. She declined to say how Atchison killed himself or whether he was on suicide watch, saying the death was being investigated.Atchison, 53, was arrested last month at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after weeks of Internet conversations between the prosecutor and a detective posing as the mother of a 5-year-old girl, authorities have said. Carried presents for girl After his arrest Atchison was placed on suicide watch, but it was lifted at the request of the defense, after Atchison assured a U.S. magistrate he wouldn't harm himself. Two days later, Atchison used a sheet in his Sanilac County jail cell to try to hang himself around 4 a.m. Another inmate yelled out to jailers, who kept Atchison from hurting himself, according to Sanilac County Sheriff Virgil Strickler. Atchison was later moved to the Milan prison. Atchison, a married father of three, was an assistant U.S. attorney in northern Florida, based in Pensacola. Gulf Breeze, Fla., residents have described him as a respected figure who coached girls' softball and basketball in a park a few blocks from his home. A statement released Friday by his lawyer, James Thomas, said Atchison had "done a lot of good in his life." "Unfortunately, he is going to be judged by his most recent charges and what we have read in the media, and not by the goodness, hard work or by the love of his family," the statement read. The statement also said Thomas would file a request to have the case dismissed. Authorities have said they found no cases of child molestation in Florida involving Atchison, who worked mostly on tax and financial crime cases. The prosecutor had been charged with three felonies. The most serious charge was crossing state lines with intent to have sex with someone younger than 12. Conviction carries a minimum 30-year prison sentence and a maximum of life. Suspended
NY Lawyer Charged By Anthony Lin The Queens District Attorney's Office has announced criminal charges against a suspended lawyer who allegedly helped sell an elderly man's house out from under him. Attorney N. Stephen Sukhdeo is facing larceny and forgery charges for participating in a scheme with real estate broker Mohammed Keita. According to the prosecutor's office, the two men forged the signature of one of Mr. Sukhdeo's clients in order to sell his house while he was hospitalized with a stroke. The house was first sold to a company owned by Mr. Sukhdeo's brother and then "flipped" to Mr. Keita's daughter. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said the scheme netted its participants hundreds of thousands of dollars. Messrs. Sukhdeo and Keita each face up to 15 years in prison. Mail
Fraud Scheme Leads to Guilty Plea; By Jeff Coen A Chicago attorney pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges in federal court Thursday in connection with a scheme to cheat insurance and rental car companies by staging phony traffic accidents. Gerald Penovich acknowledged in a plea agreement that he instructed and directed some of those involved in the plot, which involved purposely colliding vehicles and filing false claims and bogus medical bills. He was the last of six defendants in the case to plead guilty, and all are to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve in December. Penovich acted as his own lawyer in the case, court records show. A call to his law office Thursday was not immediately returned. Prosecutors said leaders of the scheme recruited players, orchestrated the fake accidents and directed the filing of false reports. Those taking part allegedly were told to consult with Penovich and others about making false claims, and they were instructed to visit medical clinics that were in on the scam. Fraudulent medical records were created at those facilities, according the plea agreement, and fraudulent insurance claims were filed with the victimized companies. In one 1998 incident, Penovich filed a personal injury claim of $64,000 and a damage claim of $9,750 with Avis Rent a Car, court records show. Avis eventually paid out $24,000, according to the plea agreement, based in part on bogus bills created by the Devon Family Medical Center. In a second incident the next year, Penovich allegedly helped the schemers after a staged two-car crash. Penovich was accused of filing claims for $25,000 with Enterprise Rent-a-Car and an insurer, which were settled for $13,000. Defendants associated with the Devon Family Medical Center generated false treatment records in that incident as well, court records show. Prosecutors are expected to recommend Penovich be sentenced to between 27 and 33 months in prison. The maximum penalty for the two counts of mail fraud Penovich has pleaded guilty to is 10 years in prison. I Covered up Church Porn: Att'y Associated Press Russell was charged Feb. 16 with destroying a computer that contained child pornography at Christ Church in Greenwich. Russell, a former attorney for the church, is accused of obstructing an FBI probe that led to the January conviction of the church's music director, Robert Tate, for possessing child pornography. Former President George Bush attended the church while growing up, and funeral services for his parents were held there. Russell was released on $100,000 bond and faces eight to 14 months in prison. "I just want to make perfectly clear how sorry I am for what I did in this case," he said yesterday. NY Lawyer
Accused of Saying He'd Make Charges By Joel Stashenko A special prosecutor will investigate a woman's claim that a part-time public defender promised he would make her drug case "go away" if she had sex with him. Latoya Gorton contends she had sexual encounters with attorney Matthew Swedick at his law office in Albany while he represented her. Mr. Swedick was assigned Ms. Gorton's case after she was arrested for having 39 grams of crack cocaine and $10,000 in a dwelling she shared with her boyfriend. In June, Ms. Gorton pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance under a plea agreement that carried a two-year prison sentence. Albany County Judge Thomas A. Breslin allowed her to withdraw her plea last week after her allegations against Mr. Swedick surfaced through her attorney, William Martin of Brooklyn. Another Albany County judge, Stephen Herrick, appointed attorney Michael Koenig to investigate Ms. Gorton's charges after District Attorney P. David Soares of Albany removed himself from the case. Mr. Swedick, who has been a part-time public defender in Albany County since 1999, has been placed on administrative leave with pay, according to county spokeswoman Kerri Battle. Officials are also reviewing his actions in a personnel inquiry separate from Mr. Koenig's, Ms. Battle said. James E. Long, Mr. Swedick's attorney, said the allegations are false. Mr. Long said that as a public defender, Mr. Swedick was in no position to make the charge against the woman "go away," as she contended. "It's absurd," Mr. Long said.
NY Lawyer Disbarred for Treating The Appellate Division, First Department, has disbarred a Manhattan personal injury lawyer for a litany of misconduct, including paying a non-lawyer "runner" to refer cases to him. Richard Boter had pleaded guilty in Nassau County to misdemeanor charges relating to that scheme, but the Manhattan appellate court noted that Mr. Boter, 32, had also faced a wholly separate disciplinary proceeding charging him with 51 counts of professional misconduct. These included presenting his clients with overreaching retainer agreements, settling cases without his clients' consent, falsifying clients' signatures on documents and lying to clients to convince them to withdraw disciplinary complaints. Mr. Boter also allegedly commingled client funds with those of his practice. In disbarring him, the court noted that though the lawyer "knew at the time that his actions were illegal and wrong, he displayed no remorse and seemed insensitive to interests of and risks to his clients, and he considered personal injury law to be a competitive 'business' to be expanded through referrals, with clients treated as commodities." Ex-top Lawyer Robles Faces Prison By Jay Weaver
Dressed
in a drab prison uniform, once high-flying lawyer Louis Robles
pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami to charges of stealing
$13.5 million in settlements from thousands of elderly clients
ailing from exposure to asbestos.
Robles, 59, who lived in a Key Biscayne mansion before his legal empire collapsed, could spend his golden years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Alan Gold accepted Robles' plea deal on the brink of trial, saying it was ''more appropriate'' than previous deals that had limited his ability to punish him more harshly. The earlier deal required Robles to plead guilty to two mail fraud offenses, which carried a maximum 10-year prison sentence. His sentencing is set for Dec. 4. Gold revoked his $1 million bond and placed him in the federal detention center last spring after Robles had spoken with his girlfriend about fleeing. During Tuesday's hearing, Robles said nothing beyond declaring his ''guilty'' plea and responding ''yes'' to standard questions about the plea from the judge. His defense lawyer, Hector Flores, also said little. Any apology from Robles would come at his sentencing. Prosecutors portrayed Robles as a scoundrel who defrauded about 4,400 clients by pocketing millions in asbestos settlements to pay for a lavish lifestyle: a 9,000-square-foot home on Biscayne Bay, ski properties in Telluride, Colo., and leased apartments in Los Angeles and New York, which he used for his ventures into the motion picture and recording industry. During the 1990s, Robles and wife, Ruth, now divorced, were spending about $2 million a year in mortgage payments and living expenses. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Davis called Robles' modus operandi through the 1990s and early 2000 period ''an ever-expanding pyramid scheme.'' He stole asbestos settlements from trust accounts and kept almost all the money for himself while paying small amounts to some victims, Davis said. The ''gap'' between his client obligations and trust account funds grew at a rate of $1 million annually, Davis said. By September 2002, he had ''misappropriated'' $13,522,159.92 owed to clients, leaving less than $25,000 to pay them. Robles allegedly tried to cover up the theft through sleight-of-hand accounting practices by charging bogus expenses to clients. Davis said Robles' victims, whose claims ranged from a few hundred dollars to $185,000, were agreeable to receiving a fraction of the money because they have waited so long -- more than a decade in some instances. The victims are expected to receive roughly 8 percent of their total settlements. Among them: A 79-year-old widow from Jacksonville, who was going to testify against Robles at trial. He owed her $177,952.87 but will now get $14,236 under the payout plan. ''She is living on a fixed income and has not received any settlement money in many years,'' Davis wrote in court papers in July. ``She is going blind and fears that she will die soon without receiving any of the money owed to her during her lifetime.'' Robles, who was initially charged in a 41-count indictment, plead guilty to defrauding three asbestos victims in 2001-02. His victims -- many of whom have died or are dying from lung-related diseases -- are spread all over the country. Both prosecutors and a private attorney assigned by the Miami-Dade Circuit Court to take charge of thousands of Robles' cases pushed for the plea deal. They said there would be no more money to recover from Robles -- other than the $1.1 million frozen after his indictment last year. Miami attorney Thomas Tew,
who represents Robles' asbestos victims in a class action case,
hailed the final agreement. Said Tew: ``This will mean a lot to a
lot of people who otherwise won't be fully compensated for their
losses.''
Federal Prosecutor Arrested for Making Date DETROIT -- A U.S.
prosecutor accused of using the Internet to arrange for sex with a
5-year-old girl flew to Michigan carrying sexual materials and
presents for the child, authorities said Tuesday. John D.R. Atchison, 53, of
Gulf Breeze, Fla., was arrested Sunday at Detroit Metropolitan
Airport after several weeks of Internet conversations between the
prosecutor and a detective posing as the mother of a 5-year-old
girl, authorities say. Officials said Atchison, an
assistant U.S. attorney in Florida, made the trip anticipating a
sexual encounter but was arrested instead. He was carrying presents
for the girl, including a doll and hoop earrings, and also had
sexual materials, including petroleum jelly, Sheriff Mark Hackel
said. A federal grand jury added
a charge Tuesday of crossing state lines with intent to have sex
with someone younger than 12. Atchison also faces charges of use of
the Internet to seek illicit sex and interstate travel to engage in
illicit sexual contact. He could face up to life in prison.
Defense lawyer James Thomas
declined to comment after the hearing. Atchison's boss, U.S.
Attorney Gregory R. Miller, said that his staff was "deeply saddened
by the arrest." He said his office was cooperating with the FBI,
U.S. prosecutors and Michigan investigators and believed that "in
the end, justice will be served." The status of Atchison's
employment was unclear. The prosecutor is a married
father of three, and Miller said that the staff was concerned about
Atchison's family. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to them," he
said. According to an FBI
affidavit, Atchison sent an instant message Aug. 29 to Macomb County
sheriff's Detective Linda Findlay, who was posing as a mother who
was willing to let men have sex with her daughter. Atchison messaged her that
he was "very much a family man," FBI agent Matthew A. Bowman said.
The prosecutor and
undercover detective held almost daily online chats after that, and
he told her that he wanted to have sex with the young girl, the FBI
agent said. Federal agents obtained a
search warrant Monday for Atchison's Florida home. There was no word
on what they sought or found. Also Tuesday, a youth
sports organization in which Atchison is active said it was placing
him on leave until the charges were resolved. Atchison is president
of the Gulf Breeze Sports Association, which runs youth baseball,
softball, cheer leading, soccer, football and basketball programs.
In a statement, the group said he had been involved with the
organization for a decade.
Famous Litigator Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Clients, September 18, 2007 MIAMI -- A once-prominent
attorney who specialized in asbestos lawsuits pleaded guilty Tuesday
to fraud charges involving thousands of former clients and could
face up to 15 years in federal prison. Louis S. Robles, 59,
pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud under an agreement with
prosecutors that requires restitution of $1.3 million be paid to
about 4,400 of his former clients. U.S. District Judge Alan Gold set
sentencing for Dec. 4, with each count carrying a potential
five-year prison term. Last spring, Robles agreed
to plead guilty, but Gold rejected it because the maximum possible
sentence was 10 years in prison. Gold expressed concern that the
sentence was not long enough, especially considering the restitution
was only a fraction of what Robles allegedly stole from clients.
Prosecutors, however, said
the $1.3 million in a frozen bank account was the only amount that
could be recovered from Robles, who has fallen far from his
once-flamboyant lifestyle. An attorney who once jetted around the
country and was known for his stylish clothes now is being held
without bail at Miami's federal det |
