Lawyers on the wrong side of the law

According to yesterday's (February 2), Cal Bar Journal, well-known criminal attorney James Joseph (Jimmy) Warner has been placed on interim suspension.

On July 15 of last year, Warner pleaded guilty to laundering $100,000 of a client's drug-trafficking proceeds and then tampering with a potential witness.

Federal drug agents had searched his client's quarters and missed $100,000 in cash. Warner laundered the money through an offshore tax and secrecy haven, taking steps to conceal the transactions involved. He failed to file an Internal Revenue Service report, which is mandated when one receives cash of more than $10,000. Despite all this, he got only three years of probation. As a result of the interim suspension, he cannot practice law.

The bar also put Oscar Arturo Ruiz de Chavez of Chula Vista on probation. He cannot practice law for two years of the probation. He had previously been disciplined by the bar.