SEATTLE – Two lawyers who used their legal skills to protect the business interests of a major drug-trafficking ring fought back tears Friday as they were sentenced to federal prison terms.
James Lloyd White, 49, a defense attorney who worked part-time as an Edmonds Municipal Court judge, was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison after admitting he engaged in money laundering.
A. Mark Vanderveen, 46, a former Snohomish County deputy prosecutor who worked as a defense attorney in Shoreline, was sentenced to three months in prison and three months in home detention, and was fined $10,000. He’d earlier admitted failing to report $20,000 that came from one of the drug traffickers.
It was standing room only as U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez handed out the sentences in back-to-back hearings. The judge described both defendants as educated, intelligent men who had done a lot of good for others.
He also said they had betrayed the justice system and themselves.
White struggled for long, painful moments to compose himself before addressing the court. He said his misdeeds were not victimless crimes, because he had let so many people down.
“I betrayed their belief in my character,” White said.
Earlier, Vanderveen battled his emotions as he apologized for assisting drug traffickers.
“It is my responsibility to analyze the situation carefully,” Vanderveen said. “I simply don’t have the words to tell you how deeply sorry I am for not having done so.”
Both men admitted aiding 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 hid dirty money, conducted covert surveillance and helped search for missing marijuana valued at $1 million.
White, who admitted accepting $250,000 from the drug ring, including $100,000 delivered to his office in a backpack, appeared to have been motivated by greed, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Friedman said.
He quoted from court papers filed by White’s attorney, Mark Mestel, in which White was described as having become “intoxicated by the allure of piles of currency.” Vanderveen willingly assisted White, including actions that put one of Vanderveen’s clients – someone who at the time was secretly working with federal agents – at risk of discovery and possibly death, Friedman said.
“What he (Vanderveen) needed to do was say ‘No,’ and it is that repeated failure that brought him to where he is today,” the prosecutor said.
Vanderveen’s attorney, Robert Chadwell of Seattle, said he was certain his client was motivated by friendship, not greed. He asked Martinez to consider how deeply involved Vanderveen had been as a volunteer in his community. He also pointed to Vanderveen’s tax records, showing the lawyer had consistently donated large amounts of money to charity – a full third of what he earned in 2004, for example.
Chadwell, a former federal prosecutor, said jail was no place for Vanderveen.
“I’ve never met a man more deserving of the court’s mercy,” he said.
Martinez said he considered sending a message by issuing harsh sentences. However, the good that both defendants had done in their lives, coupled with their cooperation with investigators, prompted him to sentence them within federal guidelines.
The judge said he was most offended by how White made sure that some of the dirty money reached Vanderveen.
White left the cash for his accomplice in a brown paper bag on the judge’s chair in the Edmonds courthouse.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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