Chicago lawyer under investigation by feds
A Chicago criminal-defense attorney is the target of a federal criminal investigation into whether he solicited perjury from a client charged in a 2009 drug conspiracy case, the Tribune has learned.
FBI agents raided the law offices of Beau Brindley last month in the historic Monadnock Building on West Jackson Boulevard, carting off files and computers.
At a hearing today at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman that Brindley is under investigation for soliciting perjury from convicted drug dealer Rahshone Burnett.
Burnett, 35, appeared via video conference from federal prison in Kentucky, clad in brown prison garb and slouched in a chair. He listened as Gettleman told him the fact he was a potential witness against his own lawyer was an extraordinary twist . The judge said that development made it especially important for Burnett to weigh whether he wanted to hire a new attorney. Gettleman appointed attorney Charles Aron to help him sort through the legal issues.
“The theory is that because Mr. Brindley is the target of a prosecution he might be more inclined to curry favor or to help the government out in ways that he can in order to help his own case,” Gettleman said. “Because in this particular case -- the unusual nature that the prosecution might involve your testimony – that’s an odd factor that we don’t always see.”
Brindley did not directly address the allegations made in court, but he told the judge they should not affect Burnett’s pending appeal since it deals with sentencing and other unrelated legal issues.
Outside the courtroom, Brindley declined to speak to a Tribune reporter. Cynthia Giacchetti, the attorney he hired to represent him in the pending investigation, did not immediately return calls for comment.
A separate hearing involving another defendant represented by Brindley is scheduled for this afternoon.
In his nearly 10 years as a criminal-defense attorney in Chicago, Brindley, 36, an Iowa native, is known both for his impassioned advocacy for downtrodden clients as well as his sometimes offbeat arguments – including one recent filing in which he likened Burnett, who was also convicted of stealing millions from a court settlement meant for his young nephews, to a starving dog tempted by a big plate of food.
His antics have also gotten him in trouble. In February, a longtime appellate judge ripped Brindley for deceiving the court, fined him $2,000 and threatened him with disbarment. Last year, another federal judge in downstate Urbana ordered Brindley locked up for contempt of court.
But the criminal probe ups the ante. After the July 7 FBI raid on his offices, prosecutors in Chicago filed a brief with the U.S. 7th Circuit of Appeals stating they have “been advised that Mr. Brindley was recently notified that he is a target of a federal criminal investigation.” Prosecutors asked in the filing that clients “in all matters involving Mr. Brindley still pending” in Chicago’s federal court system be notified of the investigation into their lawyer and be asked to waive any potential conflict.
Court records show Brindley has dozens of pending cases either in federal court or on appeal, including high-profile defendants such as Joseph “Jose” Banks, a convicted bank robber who later made a daring escape from the federal high-rise jail in the Loop.
A federal jury convicted Burnett last August of running a West Side heroin business, records show. He also pleaded guilty in a separate case to charges he stole more than $1 million won by his young nieces and nephews in a wrongful-death lawsuit and blew it on flashy cars, jewelry, even guns and a stash house for his drug racket, according to the records.
The records show that Burnett testified in his own defense during his two-week jury trial on the narcotics charges. In his testimony, he admitted that he sold heroin but denied conspiring with anyone. The jury wound up convicting him on heroin possession with the intent to distribute but acquitted him of the more serious conspiracy charges.
Burnett’s fraud case stemmed from a $5.75 million wrongful death settlement won after Burnett's sister, Shlonzo, and her 1-year-old son died when their building at the Harold Ickes complex caught fire in 2001. Investigators later determined that the fifth-floor unit had no smoke detector. An inspector with a Chicago Housing Authority contractor managing the property admitted in a deposition to falsifying a report that claimed there was a detector.
The court gave Burnett control of the money and ordered him to use it to ensure that his sister’s five surviving children thrived. When authorities finally caught up with the scheme, Burnett was living lavishly in a home in the suburbs while his relatives languished in relative poverty on Chicago's West Side, prosecutors said.
In a sentencing memo filed last year, Brindley compared Burnett to professional athletes, lottery winners and others of modest means who come into great sums of money and have trouble spending wisely. In a recent court filing, Brindley likened Burnett to a dog accustomed to cheap dry food.
"Then place that dog before a platter of steak that is meant to feed four dogs," Brindley wrote. "Under those circumstances, the excitement of that dog is, without question, going to compel him to eat more than his share."
Jmeisner@tribune.com
FBI agents raided the law offices of Beau Brindley last month in the historic Monadnock Building on West Jackson Boulevard, carting off files and computers.
At a hearing today at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman that Brindley is under investigation for soliciting perjury from convicted drug dealer Rahshone Burnett.
Burnett, 35, appeared via video conference from federal prison in Kentucky, clad in brown prison garb and slouched in a chair. He listened as Gettleman told him the fact he was a potential witness against his own lawyer was an extraordinary twist . The judge said that development made it especially important for Burnett to weigh whether he wanted to hire a new attorney. Gettleman appointed attorney Charles Aron to help him sort through the legal issues.
“The theory is that because Mr. Brindley is the target of a prosecution he might be more inclined to curry favor or to help the government out in ways that he can in order to help his own case,” Gettleman said. “Because in this particular case -- the unusual nature that the prosecution might involve your testimony – that’s an odd factor that we don’t always see.”
Outside the courtroom, Brindley declined to speak to a Tribune reporter. Cynthia Giacchetti, the attorney he hired to represent him in the pending investigation, did not immediately return calls for comment.
A separate hearing involving another defendant represented by Brindley is scheduled for this afternoon.
In his nearly 10 years as a criminal-defense attorney in Chicago, Brindley, 36, an Iowa native, is known both for his impassioned advocacy for downtrodden clients as well as his sometimes offbeat arguments – including one recent filing in which he likened Burnett, who was also convicted of stealing millions from a court settlement meant for his young nephews, to a starving dog tempted by a big plate of food.
His antics have also gotten him in trouble. In February, a longtime appellate judge ripped Brindley for deceiving the court, fined him $2,000 and threatened him with disbarment. Last year, another federal judge in downstate Urbana ordered Brindley locked up for contempt of court.
Court records show Brindley has dozens of pending cases either in federal court or on appeal, including high-profile defendants such as Joseph “Jose” Banks, a convicted bank robber who later made a daring escape from the federal high-rise jail in the Loop.
A federal jury convicted Burnett last August of running a West Side heroin business, records show. He also pleaded guilty in a separate case to charges he stole more than $1 million won by his young nieces and nephews in a wrongful-death lawsuit and blew it on flashy cars, jewelry, even guns and a stash house for his drug racket, according to the records.
Burnett’s fraud case stemmed from a $5.75 million wrongful death settlement won after Burnett's sister, Shlonzo, and her 1-year-old son died when their building at the Harold Ickes complex caught fire in 2001. Investigators later determined that the fifth-floor unit had no smoke detector. An inspector with a Chicago Housing Authority contractor managing the property admitted in a deposition to falsifying a report that claimed there was a detector.
The court gave Burnett control of the money and ordered him to use it to ensure that his sister’s five surviving children thrived. When authorities finally caught up with the scheme, Burnett was living lavishly in a home in the suburbs while his relatives languished in relative poverty on Chicago's West Side, prosecutors said.
In a sentencing memo filed last year, Brindley compared Burnett to professional athletes, lottery winners and others of modest means who come into great sums of money and have trouble spending wisely. In a recent court filing, Brindley likened Burnett to a dog accustomed to cheap dry food.
"Then place that dog before a platter of steak that is meant to feed four dogs," Brindley wrote. "Under those circumstances, the excitement of that dog is, without question, going to compel him to eat more than his share."
Jmeisner@tribune.com
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