Robert A. George convicted of money laundering
By STEVE DOANE
June 09, 2012
BOSTON — A U.S. District Court jury convicted prominent defense attorney Robert A. George on money-laundering charges after brief deliberations Friday.
George was found guilty of one count each of conspiracy to launder money and structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements and five counts of money laundering.
The allegations stem from a federal investigation into George's helping a former client conceal more than $200,000 in illicit proceeds of past crimes.
He also illegally structured related bank deposits in an attempt to avoid attention from law enforcement.
He faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the charges and a fine of up to $500,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 19.
"Attorney George traded away his integrity and his standing in the legal system and community for a simple reason: his own greed," Kevin Lane, acting special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New England, said in a statement.
Attorneys for George could not be reached for comment.
George, 56, of Westwood, is well-known on the Cape as the defense attorney in the Christa Worthington murder case.
The verdict comes after a two-week trial that focused on the testimony of Ronald Dardinski, a paid government informant who recorded dozens of conversations with George.
Prosecutors allege that George helped Dardinski launder ill-gotten funds through a mortgage broker on two occasions. For his services, George was to be paid a cut of the proceeds.
He illegally structured a bank deposit, prosecutors said, because he owed more than $100,000 in back taxes.
Dardinski, a career criminal and former mob enforcer, was working as a paid informant for the DEA at the time. In Dardinski's recordings, George can be heard clearly discussing aspects of the alleged plot. The recordings were a key part of the government's case.
Earlier in the day Friday, prosecution and defense attorneys made their final remarks to the 14-member jury in front of a courtroom so crowded, bailiffs had to turn away some spectators.
In her remarks, Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Kaplan began with a clear message: George should have known better.
"This is a case about a 30-year member of the bar, an attorney, an attorney who strayed far afield of the law," she said.
She then led the jury back through the evidence against George, emphasizing the recorded conversations. She also defended her office's reliance on Dardinski despite his long criminal record and other unsavory behavior.
"Would we prefer Dardinski didn't have a criminal past? Yes, but we take our witnesses as we find them," she said.
In his closing statement, defense attorney Kevin J. Reddington also addressed Dardinski's credibility.
"He's the prince of darkness; he's the lord of lies," he said.
The case, Reddington argued, was a "travesty," a setup devised by Dardinski and his DEA handler.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary R. Hafer delivered an impassioned rebuttal.
"If it's a setup, how does it explain that first phone call ... when he explains the deal to Dardinski," he said. "This isn't a case about the government taking Bob George down. It's about Bob George taking Bob George down."
George was the lead attorney in one of the most high-profile murder cases in Cape history. George represented Christopher McCowen, who was convicted in 2006 of stabbing New York fashion writer Christa Worthington to death in her Truro home in 2002.
George is also representing Adam Hart and Timothy Reardon, two of three defendants who have pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling operation from a Dennisport restaurant.
The three have yet to be sentenced because of a condition of their plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office that requires them to cooperate with any related, ongoing investigations.