Lawyer’s Sentencing Is Slated in Vice Case
An attorney charged with pandering involving a prostitution operation pleaded no contest Tuesday to a reduced charge of being an accessory to a felony after the fact.
Brent Barnes, 49, of Bonita, could be disbarred because of his felony conviction, a decision left up to the state bar.
The plea came during the second day of a preliminary hearing at which Barnes’ co-defendant, Karen Wilkening, 40, of Linda Vista, didn’t show up.
San Diego Municipal Court Judge William Mudd ordered a $50,000 bench warrant for Wilkening’s arrest after her attorney, Buford Wiley, gave him a letter from her stating that she was not going to appear in court.
Wilkening is charged with 28 counts of pimping and pandering.
Two counts of pandering against Barnes were dismissed by Mudd and sentencing was set for Dec. 5. He could receive three years in state prison and a $5,000 fine, but the San Diego County district attorney’s office agreed not to oppose a sentence of one year in jail.
Barnes’ attorney, David Semco, said one reason that Barnes pleaded no contest was to save embarrassment to some “big names” of people who were customers of the prostitution ring allegedly headed by Wilkening.
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