Opinion ID: 6350878
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Federal Criminal Conviction

Text: In 2006, Yagman was indicted in federal court on several counts, including one count of attempting to evade federal income taxes, 26 U.S.C. § 7201, one count of bankruptcy fraud, 18 U.S.C. §157, and seventeen counts of money laundering, 18 U.S.C. § 1957. On June 22, 2007, following a 20-day trial, a jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts. See United States v. Yagman, No. 06-cr-00227 (C.D. Cal. 1 Yagman had four other disciplinary charges filed against him in the State Bar Court of California that did not result in disciplinary action. See SBC No. 84-O-00141; SBC No. 84-O-00241; SBC No. 84-O-00323; SBC No. 91-O-03890. Charges are brought by the Office of Chief Trial Counsel after investigation to see if discipline is warranted. But see, California State Auditor, The State Bar of California’s Attorney Discipline Process: Weak Policies Limit Its Ability to Protect the Public From Attorney Misconduct (April 2022), https://www.auditor.ca.gov/ pdfs/reports/2022-030.pdf. Attorneys are presumed innocent until the charges are proven. IN RE YAGMAN 5 June 22, 2007), Dkt. No. 425. 2 The evidence at trial established that Yagman concealed assets to avoid paying his personal and law firm business taxes, defrauded the Internal Revenue Service and other creditors, and committed multiple counts of money laundering by submitting false bankruptcy schedules. See In the Disciplinary Matter of Stephen Yagman, No. 07-mc-00119 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 27, 2007), Dkt. No. 4 at 4–5. Yagman was sentenced to three years in prison and two years of supervised release. Judgment and Commitment, Yagman, No. 06-cr-00227, Dkt. No. 541. We upheld Yagman’s conviction on September 11, 2009. See United States v. Yagman, 345 Fed. App’x 312, 313 (9th Cir. 2009).