Federal Criminal Law: Tax Evasion, Bankruptcy Fraud, Money Laundering - A Local Attorney Convicted

Posted on: June 23, 2007 at 11:32 a.m.

The Los Angeles Times reported today that civil rights attorney Stephen G. Yagman was convicted on June 23, 2007 in federal court of 19 felony counts of tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud and money laundering. Because these are "moral turpitude" crimes, it is likely the verdict (assuming the courts of appeals upholds it) would cause him to be disbarred and lose the license to practice law. He is also facing the possibility of spending 6 years in prison. The jury considered the allegations that that Yagman had transferred the deed of his house to his girlfriend, K.D. Mattox, and deposited all of his income into her account, while signing checks in her name. Further, it was argued by propsecutors that Yagman had filed for bankruptcy in New York so trustees would not find his assets in California, and that hours after the filing he spents thousands of dollars on clothing and dinner on Madisons Avenue. For the defense, the criminal attorney presented innocent alternative explanations for the same actions. It was argued Yagman transferred the deed to his house to Mattox to give her a sense of security in their relationship after she moved from Orange County to be with him, he said. At the end, the jury did not believe Yagman's testimony and found him guilty of all charges after twelve hours of deliberations. Community reactions to the verdict was widely spli: "Former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates let out a slow, deep chuckle. "What can I say? He's been playing the system for a long, long time," he said. "This is a real bad man, a disgrace to the bar...Joe Gunn, a retired LAPD commander and a deputy for former Mayor Richard Riordan, said Yagman undermined the department's standing in minority communities with false allegations. "He won very few cases, but you say things long enough and people start believing it." At the other end of the spectrum, Paul Hoffman, former legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, called the conviction "a tragedy." This was not the first time Yagman's financial actions were questioned. The L.A. Times further reported that he was disciplined by the California State Bar for collecting unconsionable legal fees from clients.

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Tagged as: federal law and defense, theft, white collar crime fraud theft laws

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Federal Criminal Law: Tax Evasion, Bankruptcy Fraud, Money Laundering - A Local Attorney Convicted

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