Lawyer accused of bugging cars, evading taxes is set to enter guilty plea
A California lawyer accused of evading taxes and hiring a private investigator to bug the cars of clients’ spouses is expected to enter a guilty plea later this month.
Divorce lawyer Mary Nolan, 61, of Oakland is expected to enter the plea on Sept. 27, though details are unknown, report the San Francisco Chronicle and the Contra Costa Times.
Nolan was accused in an indictment last year of tax evasion and paying private investigator Christopher Butler to plant listening devices in cars of her clients’ spouses and significant others. She intended to use the recordings to assist her clients’ legal proceedings, according to the indictment (PDF).
Butler testified in a separate case last month that Nolan hired him to stage the DUI arrest of Declan Woods, one of two plaintiffs who claim in civil suits that the lawyer worked with Butler to “dirty” them up before divorce litigation, the Chronicle says. The suits say Butler hired alluring women to drink with the men at bars. The women then asked the men to follow them in their cars, at which point Butler would call police to report drunken driving.
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Private Detective Accused of Setting Up Divorcing Men for DUIs with Help of Alluring Women”
