Bribery Conviction Draws Disbarment

A criminal conviction has drawn disbarment from the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department

On November 16, 2023, respondent was convicted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, upon his plea of guilty, of conspiracy to bribe and unlawfully compensate a federal employee (18 USC § 371), federal employee bribery (18 USC § 201 [b] [1] [C]), illegal compensation (18 USC § 203 [a] [2]), and false statements (18 USC § 1001), all federal felonies. Respondent’s guilty plea stems from a scheme in which he was involved with an SDNY employee in the Magistrate Clerk’s Office, whereby the employee would encourage criminal defendants to retain respondent to represent them in pending criminal cases, in exchange for which respondent paid the employee a portion of the fees the clients paid him. By letter dated December 29, 2023, respondent notified this Court and petitioner Attorney Grievance Committee (AGC) of his guilty plea and pending sentence.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York described the offense

Between at least 2011 and 2022, DEL VALLE and FIGUEROA engaged in a scheme whereby FIGUEROA used his position as an employee of the SDNY District Court to encourage criminal defendants to retain DEL VALLE to represent them in pending criminal cases.  In return, DEL VALLE paid FIGUEROA a portion of the fees referred clients paid to DEL VALLE.  Over the course of more than a decade, FIGUEROA referred at least 45 SDNY criminal defendants to DEL VALLE, and DEL VALLE paid FIGUEROA tens of thousands of dollars in referral fees.  DEL VALLE paid FIGUEROA directly and through an intermediary who would pick up envelopes of cash for FIGUEROA from DEL VALLE’s law office.  Many of the clients who ended up retaining and paying DEL VALLE previously had been assigned court-appointed counsel at no cost to them.

In November 2022, federal law enforcement agents separately interviewed both DEL VALLE and FIGUEROA after advising each that lying to federal law enforcement agents is a federal crime.  DEL VALLE and FIGUEROA each made materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations in response to the agents’ questions.  In particular, DEL VALLE, upon being served with a federal grand jury subpoena requiring the production of records from his law firm, falsely denied having any records reflecting client referrals from or payments to FIGUEROA or anyone else.  FIGUEROA falsely denied making any referrals to DEL VALLE, except on a small number of occasions concerning close relations or friends, and further falsely denied ever having received payments from DEL VALLE for referrals.

(Mike Frisch)