Controversial Civil Rights Lawyer, Fearless Critic of Federal Judges, Is Disbarred After Convictions
A controversial civil rights lawyer who didn’t hesitate to criticize federal judges and others has been disbarred after his convictions for tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud and money laundering.
Known for his representation of victims of police brutality and Guantanamo Bay detainees, Stephen Yagman, 66, had gotten into trouble by failing to pay income tax that his own returns showed to be due to the government, the Legal Profession Blog reported.
He was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $100,000 in the tax case in 2007. But it was the bankruptcy fraud that merited his summary disbarment on Dec. 22, because it was both a felony and a crime of moral turpitude, according to the California Bar Journal.
He allegedly tried to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of California assets when he filed for bankruptcy in New York. Yagman contended he was singled out for prosecution due to his high profile as a civil rights lawyer in multiple cases against the government.
A fearless critic of the powerful, Yagman called now-deceased former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates “the personification of evil” and likened U.S. District Court Judge Manuel Real, who unsuccessfully sought to fine him $250,000, to the head of the Spanish Inquisition, the Bar Journal notes.
Yagman had been on interim suspension since 2007, as he appealed his convictions.
