L.A. (veteran Democratic) attorney may face federal charges

[flashl]

Attorneys for Pierce O'Donnell believe he is being targeted for political reasons.

In a high-stakes legal drama that stretches from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., federal prosecutors are poised to file criminal campaign finance charges against a prominent L.A. attorney, but his lawyers are fighting back, questioning whether his outspoken criticism of the Bush administration has made him the target of a political prosecution.

A federal grand jury has been secretly probing whether attorney Pierce O'Donnell violated federal campaign laws by asking employees of his law firm to contribute to the 2004 presidential campaign of John Edwards and then reimbursing those who did, according to several sources, including a member of O'Donnell's legal team.

O'Donnell, 61, has indicated that he is willing to plead to a misdemeanor charge and pay a large fine, but prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles have been insisting that any deal would require him to plead guilty to a felony, which would end his legal career in California, according to several sources who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations.

Members of O'Donnell's legal team are questioning whether the veteran Democratic attorney is being threatened with a felony because he represents victims of Hurricane Katrina in a lawsuit against the government and has been openly critical of President Bush's policies on civil rights in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, a source close to O'Donnell said.

LA Times

In these times, presenting the 'little people' is not popular and there seem to be a pattern where 'activist' attorneys are jail bound.