Local lawyers plead guilty in drug money case

[NEWS] The good news on the front page of the Seattle Times this morning was the Gates gift for public service scholarships. A sadder story about lawyers and money was above the fold. Two local defense attorneys (one of whom was also a part-time municipal court judge) pleaded guilty to charges related to their receipt of drug money. A. Mark Vanderveen's offense was failure to report income to the IRS; James L. White's was money laundering (he accepted $100,000 in cash from a client and passed along $20,000 to Vanderveen).The Seattle Times: Local News: Two well-regarded lawyers are done in by drug money

In a related story, the Times reports that such prosecutions are rare.

The Times has posted sentencing memoranda on its website (linked from the first story above) -- the government's memoranda for both men and Vanderveen's. The government is recommending 18 months imprisonment for White and 30 days imprisonment for Vanderveen.

By the way, the federal prosecutor, Ronald Friedman, was a Trial Ad instructor last year.

Categories: practice-of-law, sentencing, Vanderveen, White, Friedman, UW