Austin, Texas – An Austin lawyer, Patrick Lanier, has been ordered to federal prison following his convictions on 16 counts related to the ‘Butch’ Ballow case and a stock sale scheme.
Lanier, 67, was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 13 counts of wire fraud, one count of harboring and concealing Harris ‘Butch’ Ballow from arrest, and one count of assisting a federal offender.
A jury found Lanier guilty on February 27, 2014, and he was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal.
Lanier was also ordered to pay $37 million in restitution, which is a significant amount considering the large number of victims – over 500 – and the devastating impact of the offense on one of the victims, whose husband committed suicide as a result.
Lanier is an Austin attorney who represented Ballow during proceedings before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2004 and also during the criminal case that led to Ballow becoming a fugitive.
Evidence demonstrated at the 13-day trial proved that Lanier assisted Ballow in selling shares of stock in public companies acquired and controlled by Ballow while he was a fugitive from justice.
Ballow was a fugitive from justice in the United States for more than five years before he was arrested by Mexican authorities on July 13, 2010, and extradited to the United States on April 8, 2011.
He was later sentenced to 10 years for money laundering and ordered to pay $10 million in restitution.
Related Federal Cases
- Anthony Glen Jones, Mortgage Fraud Scheme, Texas 2007 · Texas
- Matthew Taylor Morones, Bank Fraud Scheme, Texas 2007 · Louisiana
- Anna Ramirez-Ambriz, Medicaid Defraud Scheme, Texas 2017 · Texas
- Michael Anthony Munson, Embezzlement, Texas 2022 · North Carolina
- Oscar Simon Ndereva, Wire Fraud, Texas 2023 · California
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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