A high-profile Boston attorney who has represented mobsters and some big name clients was charged Wednesday with money laundering that included taking payments from an undercover DEA agent posing as a drug dealer from the Dominican Republic.
Authorities charged that attorney Robert A. George, 56, of Westwood, Mass., helped conceal $225,000 in drug proceeds over a period of time.
According to a government affidavit, a cooperating witness told George and a co-conspirator that he had large amounts of cash from drug trafficking.
Authorities alleged that on two separate occasions, George’s co-conspirator took the cash from the government informant in exchange for a check made payable to a fictitious undercover company. George’s co-conspirator then charged the government informant a substantial fee.
On another occasion, George allegedly took $25,000 in cash from an undercover DEA agent posing as a drug dealer client. George then made two separate deposits of that money, in amounts under $10,000 in order to avoid a reporting requirement, authorities said.
“Defense counsel play a critical role in the criminal justice system, protecting important constitutional rights upon which we all depend,” Boston U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said in a statement. “But when an attorney assists in the criminal concealment and laundering of drug money — as is alleged in this case — it impedes the administration of justice and is an affront to all ethical and law abiding members of the bar.”
” If convicted, Mr. George is no better than those who distribute illegal drugs,” Special Agent in Charge of the Boston DEA, Steven Derr added.
