Lawyer Carrillo won't fight charges

On September 2, a New York law firm sent an unusual letter to a judge in the Southern District of New York. The letter stated that San Diego attorney Luis Carrillo will no longer fight Securities and Exchange Commission charges of 2013.

The commission had said that Carrillo, his then-law partner Wade Huettel, a group of Canadian stock promoters, and a broker based in the tax and secrecy haven of the Bahamas, participated in a pump 'n' dump scam, illegally running up two penny stocks and dumping them for fat profits.

The commission charged that Carrillo and Huettel, serving as lawyers for the group of penny-stock touts, prepared false documents, masked the touts' participation, permitted the ill-gotten gains to be run through their attorney-client trust account, and raked in $1 million in the process. The agency said at the time that their San Diego law firm, Carrillo Huettel LLP, was about to break up.

The September 2 letter says Carrillo agrees to be permanently enjoined from committing further violations, enjoined from participating in penny-stock offerings, and barred from serving as an officer or director of any public company. Carrillo agreed to stop defending the case.

The Securities and Exchange Commission website has nothing on this letter and nothing on Huettel's current status. The publication Stockwatch says the letter is unusual because such offers are ordinarily part of settlement negotiations. Some think the agency may not accept Carrillo's offer.

Carrillo and Huettel are still active lawyers, according to the State Bar of California. Carrillo is named, but not charged, in another securities agency penny-stock fraud case filed in February of this year.