SEATTLE – Two Snohomish County lawyers are scheduled to be sentenced today for letting friendship and foolishness lead them into a drug conspiracy.
James Lloyd White, 49, was a defense attorney who worked part-time as an Edmonds Municipal Court judge.
A. Mark Vanderveen, 46, is a former Snohomish County deputy prosecutor who worked as a defense attorney in Shoreline and sometimes filled in as a judge when White was busy.
The lawyers, described in court papers as close friends, were scheduled to appear in back-to-back sentencing hearings this morning before U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez.
Both men earlier this year admitted illegally assisting members of a drug ring that smuggled large amounts of cocaine, cash and potent “B.C. bud” marijuana across the U.S.-Canada border.
The trouble began after federal agents in February stopped a 372-pound cocaine shipment as it was being smuggled along U.S. 2 in Monroe.
Before the government intervened, the lawyers helped hide dirty money, conducted covert surveillance and helped search for missing marijuana valued at $1 million.
“To this day, the government has difficulty understanding why Mr. White did these things,” assistant U.S. attorney Ronald Friedman said in court papers. “They are wholly at odds with his professional responsibilities and have nothing to do with meaningful representation of a client – any client.”
While Vanderveen has “appeared contrite, and genuinely remorseful” since his legal troubles began, he engaged in acts that were “extremely disturbing” to the prosecutors and had no legitimate link to the work of a defense attorney, Friedman wrote.
Vanderveen’s biggest mistake was not paying enough attention, his attorney, Robert Chadwell, said in court papers.
“In short, he trusted his mentor and friend. It became crystal clear to Mark (Vanderveen) that his own conduct was off-base, but this realization came too late,” Chadwell wrote.
Vanderveen has pleaded guilty to failing to report the $20,000 White paid him to act as an attorney for one member of the drug ring.
The lawyers hid the arrangement, with White leaving $10,000 in a brown paper bag for Vanderveen at the Edmonds courthouse and passing along another $10,000 in a parking-lot meeting, according to court papers.
White pleaded guilty to money laundering. Among other things, he has admitted accepting a backpack containing $100,000 from Robert Kesling, 27, a former Woodinville man White knew was the drug trafficker. Federal agents also seized $150,000 from White’s bank account after confirming that the lawyer stashed it there for the drug trafficker, court papers show.
Vanderveen could face up to six months behind bars. Prosecutors are seeking one month; the defense wants community service.
White’s attorney, Everett lawyer Mark Mestel, filed court papers on his client’s behalf under seal. He said he will ask that White receive two months of home detention.
Friedman is seeking 18 months in prison for White. White spent the drug money on personal bills, family loans and trips to India and Fiji, the prosecutor said in court papers.
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