Ex-Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges

Former San Diego attorney Richard Degallegos, who already had given up his clients to the State Bar and quit the practice of law, pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal fraud, tax and contempt charges.

Degallegos, 50, who had been named in April, 1989, on a 24-count indictment, pleaded guilty on the day his trial was due to begin to three charges: mail fraud, filing a false claim for a tax refund and contempt of court.

The former lawyer, who could draw as much as 10 years in prison, also agreed Wednesday to repay each of the clients the indictment alleged he defrauded, said Assistant U.S. Atty. George D. Hardy.

If he had been convicted of all charges, Degallegos could have been sentenced to a maximum term of 115 years in prison.

The indictment alleged that, over a six-year period, Degallegos was involved in various criminal schemes.

He was accused of misappropriating funds belonging to clients, disobeying the orders of a bankruptcy court judge, setting up an illegal rebating scheme while working as a life insurance salesman in 1984, and falsely claiming an income tax refund of about $85,000 in 1985.

Degallegos, a graduate of Western State University of Law in San Diego, operated a law practice under the names Plaza Legal, Carriage Legal Center and Scripps Mesa Legal Center. He claimed to have offices throughout the state and in Washington, Hardy said.

In 1988, after clients complained that Degallegos failed to show up for court appearances and misappropriated money, he was investigated by the State Bar, the Internal Revenue Service, the San Diego County district attorney’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office.

In December, 1988, State Bar officials made the unusual move of taking over his law practice. Later, Degallegos resigned from the bar.