Legal Ethics
D.C. Lawyer Charged with Money Laundering
Posted Nov 7, 2008, 09:27 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A Washington, D.C., lawyer who has filed high-profile lawsuits against police departments has been charged with laundering money that had belonged to a drug dealer before his shooting death.
The indictment accuses Walter L. Blair of advising a surviving relative of the drug dealer to use the money to buy real estate and to pay legal fees, the Washington Post reports.
The indictment alleges Blair set up a corporation and opened bank accounts to purchase property for the relative with the drug money, according to a press release.
The relative brought a duffel bag filled with money to Blair’s office, the release says. Blair is accused of keeping $1,000 for himself and using some of the money to pay legal fees, both for himself and other lawyers, for representing the drug dealer’s associates.
Blair was charged with money laundering, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and failure to file tax returns.