LOS ANGELES : Ex-Lawyer Gets 65 Months for Illegal Tax Write-Offs

A former lawyer convicted of illegally deducting nearly $5 million from his income taxes as payments for illegal personal injury referrals was sentenced Wednesday to 65 months in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Manuel Real also ordered Robert M. Standard, 51, to repay $1.19 million in loans he received based on false financial statements. The money must be returned to Topa Savings Banks and the now-defunct First Pacific Bank.

Standard was indicted as part of a investigation into the widespread practice of illegal payments to non-lawyers, or “cappers,” who bring clients to attorneys and doctors, Assistant U.S. Atty. Alka Sagar said.

Throughout his trial and at today’s sentencing hearing, Standard denied knowing the payments were illegal and claimed the law that prohibits the deduction was not generally enforced.

Standard was convicted Sept. 6 of two counts of filing a false federal income tax return, two counts of bank fraud and one count of bankruptcy fraud.

He wrote off about $2.9 million under the heading “attorney associate fees” from his 1987 income tax return, then deducted $1.9 million more in “sign-ups” the following year, Sagar said. In 1989, he submitted false information for two bank loans to buy land in Bel-Air Crest and to build a home on the property, she said.