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A. Mark Vanderveen (WSBA No. 18616, admitted 1989), of Kenmore, was disbarred, effective July 16, 2009, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court following an appeal. This discipline resulted from conduct involving the commission of a felony and dishonesty. For further information, see In re Disciplinary Proceeding Against Vanderveen, 211 P.3d 1008 (2009).
On February 29, 2005, Attorney W asked Mr. Vanderveen to represent Mr. C, who was under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for involvement in a drug ring. Attorney W represented one of the top men in the drug ring, who was also Mr. C’s superior. Mr. Vanderveen agreed to represent Mr. C and told him at their first meeting that Mr. C’s “friends or associates” would pay his attorney fees. Mr. C agreed. Attorney W paid Mr. Vanderveen $20,000 in cash in two installments for his representation of Mr. C. On March 17, 2005, Attorney W left the first cash payment of approximately $10,000 in a paper bag in the court chambers where both he and Mr. Vanderveen sat as pro tempore judges. Attorney W gave Mr. Vanderveen the remaining $10,000 cash within a couple of weeks by delivering it to him in a parking lot outside of a bank. According to Mr. Vanderveen, Attorney W told him “the people [Mr. C] works with have given me some money, and I can pass it on to you.”
Mr. Vanderveen’s ordinary business practice with regard to receipt of legal fees in the form of cash was to deposit them in the bank on the same day he received them, photocopy the payment for his records, and enter them into his Quickbooks accounting system. When he received attorney W’s cash payments, Mr. Vanderveen did not follow his ordinary practice. Instead, he placed each of the payments in his home safe. Further, Mr. Vanderveen failed to report the receipt of the cash payments as required by 31 U.S.C. §§ 5331(a) and 5322.
In exchange for the $20,000 he received from Attorney W, Mr. Vanderveen represented Mr. C beginning in early March 2005. During that time, Mr. Vanderveen acceded to requests from Attorney W, on behalf of Attorney W’s client, to help them get information from or about Mr. C. For example, Mr. Vanderveen helped Attorney W conduct surveillance of Mr. C without Mr. C’s knowledge or approval. With Mr. Vanderveen’s assistance, Attorney W had Mr. C followed to discover if Mr. C had taken a trailer full of marijuana or was cooperating with law enforcement.
In early May 2005, federal authorities informed Attorney W that he was under investigation for involvement in his client’s drug ring. Attorney W agreed to cooperate with authorities and recorded a phone conversation between him and Mr. Vanderveen, in which they discussed the cash payments Attorney W made to Mr. Vanderveen and Mr. Vanderveen’s failure to report them. As a result, on July 22, 2005, Mr. Vanderveen was charged with and entered a guilty plea to violations of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5331(a) and 5322 (willful failure to file a currency report).
The court imposed a three-month prison sentence, to be followed by home detention. After serving his prison term, Mr. Vanderveen served 90 days’ home detention, during which he was required to wear an ankle bracelet. On the last day of his detention, Mr. Vanderveen removed his bracelet and left his home. Due to this probation violation, he was sentenced to six additional days in prison and 30 additional days in home detention.
Mr. Vanderveen’s conduct violated RPC 8.4(b), prohibiting a lawyer from committing a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects; and RPC 8.4(c), prohibiting a lawyer from engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Christine Gray represented the Bar Association. Kurt M. Bulmer represented Mr. Vanderveen. Peter A. Matty was the hearing officer. |