Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Helping Madam Flee
A veteran criminal defense attorney who once represented convicted madam Karen Wilkening pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to obstruct justice in helping her maintain her life as a fugitive.
The felony plea of Buford Wiley Jr., 46, may end his career as an attorney because the State Bar could revoke his license.
Wiley admitted that he forwarded mail from Wilkening, 43, to National City car dealer Tony McCune while Wilkening was a fugitive on her 1987 pimping and pandering case.
Wiley represented her in September, 1987, in a preliminary hearing when she vanished on the hearing’s second day.
Wilkening was arrested in May in the Philippines.
Under a plea bargain, Wiley will face no more than one year in County Jail and a $10,000 fine. San Diego Superior Court Judge Andrew Wagner set sentencing for Dec. 7. Wiley remains free on bond.
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