Criminal defense lawyer worked as CI against clients
01/26/09
Criminal defense lawyer worked as CI against clients
A lawyer from Ohio, now reportedly practicing in Denver, has been working as a government informant for the last three years, resulting in the arrest of several clients and seizure of drugs and cash. Attorney stings 30 defendants / Authorities credit work by informant; latest drug suspect gets 15 years in prison:
A high-stakes Akron drug dealer has become the latest suspect stung by an attorney who became an informant for federal agents.
Chevaliee "Chevy" Robinson, 30, pleaded guilty last fall to charges of drug conspiracy and money laundering in U.S. District Court in Akron. He was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison.
His arrest and 29 others were made possible, federal authorities said, because of the undercover work of Robinson's former attorney, Frank Pignatelli.
According to court records, Pignatelli was facing his own indictment as a co-conspirator when he agreed to work undercover for federal drug investigators more than three years ago.
With Pignatelli's help, federal agents have arrested 30 people from Akron and Cleveland, and seized hundreds of pounds of marijuana and cocaine, along with cash and property totaling more than $3 million.
Many of the charges have led to convictions, which could not have happened without the former Akron lawyer's help, attorneys said.
Pignatelli's decision to turn on his clients and cooperate with law enforcement "still leaves a bad taste in my mouth," Robinson's attorney, James Campbell, said Friday.
"Maybe [Pignatelli] should be doing jail time instead."
The list serv traffic since this story broke has been remarkable. This situation raises serious questions about the criminal defense lawyer's role when an ongoing or future crime is being discussed. We all know that the crime fraud exception does not protect communications between a client using the lawyer's services to commit a crime or where the lawyer conspires with the client. If the lawyer is truly a conspirator, then the privilege would not apply.
It raises thorny questions in the client's criminal cases that he helped make of what the Sixth Amendment requires of a criminal defense lawyer who is ratting out the client while the client thinks that he or she's getting legal advice. Of course a client has no right to rely on legal advice that is part of a conspiracy with the client. I bet that many of these cases have subtle twists and turns that will result in hearings on the clients' depending on his advice. The government then will put on evidence to overcome the privilege through the crime-fraud exception. It will get ugly.
What about the lawyer's current clients in Colorado? What would they think about their lawyer being a possible agent provocateur for the government?
More importantly, why is this guy still practicing law?
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