A Wyoming County attorney who failed to pay more than $389,000 in taxes was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's office recently announced.
Charles B. Mullins II, 52, of Daniels, entered an August 2012 guilty plea to tax evasion. Mullins, who practiced law in Pineville, admitted that from 2006-2009 he failed to pay taxes and also admitted he owed the state public defender program $223,605.
He also admitted owing $184,030 to an Alabama-based Daniels Capital Corp. by making false statements concerning the amount of time he worked on court-appointed criminal defense work.
Mullins submitted false payment vouchers to the West Virginia
Public Defender Services, where he falsely inflated the amount of hours he
worked on particular cases, the news release states.
As an example, the news release states that between March
2005 and June 2011 Mullins reported working more than 24 hours in one day. The
news release notes he did this on several occasions.
In addition to his sentence, Mullins must pay $780,146.51 in
restitution.
This case is similar to two others. In one case, another
former Pineville attorney, Christopher Bledsoe, pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
Bledsoe, who was appointed by circuit judges in Wyoming,
Raleigh and Mercer counties, admitted to falsifying records more than 100
times.
From January 2010 to February 2011, Bledsoe sent payment
vouchers to a known entity in Birmingham, Ala.
This known individual would then advance Bledsoe a payment, according to the
information.
Bledsoe also would authorize the West Virginia Public
Defender's office to pay the known person directly for these vouchers.
The information stated Bledsoe misrepresented the work he had
done, falsified a circuit judge's signature for payment vouchers and created
"fictitious clients and case numbers."
Bledsoe was sentenced in early 2012 to 18 months and three
years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay $188,000 in
restitution.
In the second case, a former Point Pleasant
attorney was sentenced in 2012 to 21 months in prison after fraudulently
submitting payment vouchers.
At the end of cases, Jeremy T. Vickers, 36, would submit
payment voucher forms to the circuit court judge for approval. After these
vouchers were authorized, Vickers would submit the court order to the West
Virginia Public Defender Services for payment.
The public defender services typically would take several
months to reimburse these vouchers, so Vickers entered into a cash-advance
agreement with the Huntington-based Attorney Finance Corp to expedite payments.
Prosecutors allege Vickers falsely inflated working hours on
these payment vouchers. According to court filings, Vickers allegedly billed
more than 24 hours of legal work for at least 173 days, totaling $221,740.43 of
fraudulently obtained money.
"Lawyers hold a position of public trust," U.S. Attorney
Booth Goodwin said in a release. "When that trust is broken, the public and the
legal profession suffer. It is particularly disappointing when a member of the
bar is convicted of wrongdoing. The sentence of the court in this case will
hopefully send a clear message that such conduct cannot be tolerated."
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