Legal News

Reports: Mark Dreier Likely to Plead Guilty at 5 p.m.

By Ashby Jones

Marc Dreier, the hobnobbing, high-flying attorney-turned-imposter-and swindler is slated to plead guilty at 5 p.m. today to every count lodged against him in the indictment. The main allegations in connection to his sale of fictitious notes to a variety of folks between 2004 and 2008: money laundering, securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit both securities and wire fraud. Click here for the story from the New York Law Journal; here, here and here for earlier LB posts about Dreier.

Dreier, 58, faces a sentence of 20 years in prison on each of the most serious charges against him, but his lawyer, Gerald Shargel, hopes that his sentence leaves open the possibility that he will get out of prison before the end of his life.

For now, it’s unclear whether Dreier will be allowed to return home before the start of his prison term. “We’re going to have an issue about bail pending sentencing because the government is seeking to have him remanded and I’m trying to keep him out,” Shargel told the NYLJ.

So, alas, the Marc Dreier situation is nearing a conclusion. For our money, three pieces in regard to the situation really stand out: Nathan Koppel, Justin Scheck and Steve Stecklow’s piece in the WSJ from December; Robert Kolker’s piece in New York magazine and Alison Frankel’s piece in the American Lawyer.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 11, 2009 (boomark / email).