Judge sends 2 lawyers to prison

Two criminal-defense attorneys, who accepted drug money to represent a drug kingpin and one of his couriers, were sentenced Friday to prison terms by a federal judge who described their conduct as "offensive to all those who work honestly in the criminal-justice system."

James L. White and A. Mark Vanderveen both expressed remorse, at times choking back tears, during their sentencing hearings before U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez in Seattle.

White, 49, a former part-time Edmonds municipal judge, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Last summer he pleaded guilty to money laundering for receiving $100,000 in cash, knowing it was drug money.

Vanderveen, 46, of Lake Forest Park, a former prosecutor, police officer and pro-tem judge, was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home detention. He had earlier pleaded guilty to failing to report a cash payment exceeding $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service, as required by law.

Drug kingpin Robert Kesling, 27, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana and is awaiting sentencing, delivered the $100,000 in cash to White in a backpack. White took $20,000 of the money and gave it, in two $10,000 payments, to Vanderveen to represent Wesley Cornett, one of Kesling's drug runners.

During Cornett's sentencing last month and again Friday, the government disclosed aggravating factors surrounding the attorneys' roles, including the fact that White and Vanderveen tried to get Cornett to take a polygraph to see if he knew the whereabouts of $1 million worth of missing marijuana that belonged to Kesling's organization.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Friedman also pointed out that White and Vanderveen worked together to conduct surveillance on Cornett to see if he was cooperating with the government, which he was.

If the two had been successful in outing Cornett as an informant, it could have resulted in Cornett's death, the judge noted. Martinez also said he found it "particularly offensive" that Vanderveen picked up his second $10,000 payment in a paper bag that White left on a judge's chair in an Edmonds courtroom — a place where Vanderveen "would come and put on judicial robes and mete out justice."

Both White and Vanderveen have agreed to disbarment. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Vanderveen faced from zero time to six months in prison, and White from 24 to 30 months.

The government recommended one month for Vanderveen and 18 months for White — giving White six months' credit for cooperating with authorities.

That cooperation included handing the government information used to help convict Vanderveen, whose defense attorney, Robert Chadwell, pleaded for mercy on grounds that Vanderveen was doing a favor for White, his trusted friend and mentor.

Pastor Mike Anderson of the Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Kirkland, speaking on behalf of Vanderveen, urged a sentence of probation, saying the attorney's reputation was in tatters and that there was "no need to crush him any further."

In tripling the government's recommended sentence for Vanderveen, Martinez said he was not trying to send a message.

Still, the judge said he thought it fair to hold Vanderveen to a "higher standard." The judge also said he found it "inconceivable" that Vanderveen didn't know he was taking "tainted money."

"I am terribly sorry for my conduct in this case," Vanderveen said. "I have spent my entire life in the criminal-justice system. It's gone now."

White's attorney, Mark Mestel, said his client "fell to temptation." Mestel described White as a "broken man."

When it was his turn to speak, White said he was sorry he'd betrayed the trust of friends and family. "I don't have any explanation to offer for what's gone on," he said.

Meantime, an investigation arising out of the same drug case into possible misconduct by other criminal-defense attorneys is continuing. Other attorneys have been advised they could be targets.

Peter Lewis: 206-464-2217 or plewis@seattletimes.com