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Lawrence resident Mark Weissman, 55, who has been licensed to practice law in New York since 1989, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding.
U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said that Weissman engaged in a scheme to impede the enforcement of another person’s obligation to pay millions of dollars in court-ordered restitution to victims in an unrelated securities fraud case.
In 2011 and 2012, two people pleaded guilty to securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. As part of their sentencing in 2014, they were ordered to pay $12.7 million in restitution to the victims of their scheme.
In February 2017, Weissman instructed one of the two parties to pay the other $6 million, warning that without payment, incriminating evidence would be leaked to police. As part of his guilty plea, Weissman admitted that he believed that payment would “impede the enforcement of the restitution judgment,” Donoghue said.
“With today’s guilty plea, Weissman has been held responsible for attempting to impede the execution of a restitution judgment that was to be paid to victims of a massive fraud,” Donoghue said. “This Office will vigorously prosecute corrupt attorneys who assist in violations of the law.”
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