Defense Lawyer Charged with Arranging to Bribe Cop to Say Client Was DEA Informant
Corrected: A California lawyer and a Rialto police officer have been taken into custody and charged with bribery after allegedly arranging for a client of attorney Lawrence Anthony Witsoe to pay $2,500 for the benefit of the officer.
In exchange, the officer allegedly falsely told the Orange County District Attorney’s office that the client had worked as an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration, reports the Orange County Register.
A federal indictment in the Santa Ana case accuses Witsoe of telling the client to wire $2,500 to his trust account after the assault case against the client was dismissed. Then the lawyer allegedly wrote a check to the former spouse of a friend of the police officer.
If convicted, the lawyer could get a maximum prison term of 35 years.
Updated at 4:15 p.m. to correctly state in the headline that the client was falsely represented to be a DEA informant.
Correction
Corrected to state in the headline that the client was falsely represented to be a DEA informant..
