Ex-bank robber and Georgetown Law professor found guilty of assaulting wife
Shon Hopwood, a former federal inmate, joined the faculty at the Georgetown University Law Center in 2017. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images(
A former bank robber who became a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center has been convicted of multiple criminal charges related to a domestic violence incident involving his wife.
A superior court jury found Shon Hopwood, 50, of the District of Columbia guilty of three counts of simple assault, five counts of contempt and two counts of obstructing justice, the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia announced Friday.
“A D.C. jury is demanding accountability from the batterer who not only beat his wife but was on the faculty of Georgetown Law teaching criminal law,” said Interim U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro in a statement. “This D.C. jury wasn’t afraid to demand accountability no matter who the defendant is.”
Hopwood is well known for the story of how he turned his life around after becoming a skilled jailhouse lawyer while in prison for bank robbery. He went to the University of Washington School of Law and clerked for a federal appeals judge before becoming a law professor.
In September 2023, Hopwood’s wife, Ann Marie Hopwood, accused him of breaking her tooth and finger during a fight. She was hidden in another room at their Washington, D.C., home when police discovered her, she said.
Police had come to the home after an allegation that Ann Marie Hopwood was locked in the basement. Hopwood allegedly told his wife to stay there and then told police that his wife was not at home.
Ann Marie Hopwood also alleged previous instances of domestic abuse.
The contempt and obstruction of justice charges were filed against Hopwood after he tried to pressure his wife not to cooperate with the government, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 18.
His lawyer, Philip Andonian, did not immediately respond to the ABA Journal’s request for comment.
Reuters has additional coverage.
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