Legal News

Yagman delays prison sentence, again

By Jason Siegel

Civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman who was convicted last year on tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud and money laundering, has appealed a judge's order denying him bail.
Yagman's petition, before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, prompted a last-minute stay on his three-year prison sentence, which was scheduled to begin on Jan. 29. The petition was filed on Jan. 28 by his attorney in the underlying case, Tarlow & Berk's Barry Tarlow, and Duke law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, who's handling the appeal of Yagman's conviction.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson denied Yagman's request to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction. In appealing the bail decision, Yagman claims he should remain free as there are "substantial questions of fact or law" in the case that could reverse his conviction.

Yagman, a partner at Yagman, Yagman & Reichmann, in Venice Beach, Calif., originally was scheduled to begin serving his sentence on Jan. 15. Earlier this month, he convinced Wilson to delay the start of his prison time following the death of his aunt in New York.

-- Amanda Bronstad

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on February 01, 2008 (boomark / email).