ATTORNEY GUILLERMO VEGA SENT TO PRISON FOR 13 MONTHS

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Southern District of Texas

HOUSTON – A 70-year-old Brownsville attorney has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of failing to file a financial reporting form as required when operating a trade or business, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Guillermo Vega Jr. pleaded guilty May 23, 2018.

Today, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen ordered Vega to serve a total of 13 months in prison immediately followed by three years of supervised release. The court also imposed a $100,000 fine and restitution payable to the IRS for unpaid taxes Vega earned as part of his legal practice.

At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence regarding Vega’s attempt to obstruct justice by tampering with a witness. In handing down the sentence, the court found Vega abused the public trust because of his special skill as an attorney.

Judge Hanen also noted other government and legal forms he filed in the course of his representation of criminal defendants.

At the time of the plea, the court heard that on March 21, 2011, Vega received $25,000 in cash related to a single sale while operating as a trade or business, namely the Law Office of Guillermo Vega Jr.

The money was intended for the representation of Heriberto Bazan on federal charges of attempting to transport ammunition into Mexico. Vega did not file the appropriate FinCEN Form in relation to the transaction. A FinCEN Form 8300 is a reporting requirement when a trade or business receives cash in excess of $10,000.

As part of the plea agreement, Vega agreed that he will make full restitution on the tax loss, totaling $126,253.

(In Dec. 2015, during a running gun battle, Heriberto Bazan and other four other members of an armed gang were being chased by an assassination team crossed the river and ended up in the hands of federal U.S. authorities and charged with various charges of drug running in federal indictments.

They were arrested about a week after Rafael Cárdenas Vela, a boss with the Cardenas clan,was arrested in Port Isabel.

After their trial, all five men – and Cardenas – were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

According to a federal indictment, Bazan and his four companions hired  Vega to represent them in federal court and paid him a total of $378,446.

Years after the trial and conviction of his former clients, the federal government indicted Vega for income tax evasion. They claim in the seven-count indictment that Vega reported only $9,530 in taxable income.

Vega claimed he owed the IRS only $4,337. Instead, the government charges, he should have paid $$129,908 and now owes an additional $126,253 in penalties.

(Lawyers acquainted with the case said that federal prosecutors have a receipt issued by Vega to one of the defendants mother for $350,000 and that prosecutors are looking into trips that Vega took to exotic locales like Jamaica using the proceeds of the money paid to him.

Others say that Vega hired other local attorneys and paid them $5,000 to represent four defendants without telling them about the large sum paid him by their relatives.)

Vega was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

IRS-Criminal Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jody Young and Karen Betancourt are prosecuting the case.