Lawyer Sentenced for Role in ‘Alliance’ Fraud
A former lawyer from Van Nuys was sentenced Thursday to a six-month prison term and fined $5,000 for his role in “the Alliance” insurance fraud and legal corruption case.
Alan M. Hersh, 42, was the last of 18 defendants sentenced in the Alliance case. He was ordered by U.S. District Judge Judith Keep to surrender Nov. 21 at an as-yet unspecified federal prison.
Hersh’s sentencing came almost two years after he pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and agreed to cooperate with the government. Each mail fraud count carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Hersh also resigned from the State Bar soon after entering his plea in December, 1989.
In August, Hersh’s former law partner, Barry J. Krasner, was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
Altogether, 12 lawyers and six law firm employees and clients were convicted or pleaded guilty in the Alliance case and received sentences ranging from probation and fines to 46 months in prison.
“The Alliance” was the name used by prosecutors for a group of Los Angeles-area lawyers who took part in a scheme to manipulate civil litigation to bilk insurance companies out of millions of dollars in legal fees.
Two of those accused in the case remain fugitives, including alleged Alliance mastermind Lynn Boyd Stites.
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