Henrico County Circuit Court and U.S. Attorney federal files go missing in International Fugitives case
High profile McGuire-Woods partners allegedly linked to the case of International Fugitive Nickolas Spanos corruption, as suspicions continue to grow in the missing Henrico County Circuit Court and U.S. Attorney federal files.
The missing files are related to federal warrants that had been issued for Nickolas Spanos on December 14, 1998 for Unlawful Flight to avoid prosecution. On December 05, 1998, a Multi-Jurisdictional Grand Jury issued 13 indictments for Nickolas Spanos alleging Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine in the Richmond, Virginia area.
Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney Howard Vick had requested for the U.S. Attorney office to issue the December 14, 1998 federal warrants for Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Nickolas Spanos had fled to Greece on November 28, 1998 after being tipped off by HCCA Howard Vick that a pending grand jury trial would target him and fellow associates.
HCCA Howard Vick never attempted an extradition request from Greece to have Nickolas Spanos brought back to be prosecuted for the 13 grand jury indictments despite a media battle between Vick and Spanos. Spanos claimed that "Vick was on a witch hunt and had no evidence except false witnesses", Vick had stated that Spanos was the hub of a cocaine organization that distributed more than 600 kilos of cocaine.
On April 15, 1999, three of Spanos's associates pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine and testified against Spanos. HCCA Howard Vick refused to extradite Spanos from Greece despite Spanos challenging him in the media that the allegations against him are false.
In May 2000, HCCA Howard Vick resigned early from the HCCA position to join McGuire-Woods law firm on June 08, 2000. McGuire-Woods represented Nickolas Spanos and family members in multi-million dollar estate holdings.
Pacer case locater show that the federal case file was assigned to Magistrate Judge Dennis W. Dohnal on August 08, 2000, just two months after Howard Vick joined McGuire-Woods law firm.
Strangely enough on July 11, 2001, after 11 months, a government motion is submitted to have the December 14, 1998 federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution dismissed. Why would a federal warrant for an international fugitive be dismissed if the grand jury indictments are still active? The HCCA at the time was Wade Kizer, who was Howard Vick's loyal successor after his resignation.
With no federal warrants appearing, Nickolas Spanos was able to renew his U.S. passport on September 15, 2006 at the U.S. Embassy Athens, Greece and remain off the radar of international law enforcement.
Recently, Nickolas Spanos Attorneys began to uncover further corruption in the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney's office, as the entire Henrico County Circuit Court records of the federal warrants for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution were missing. The missing documents are:
- December 11, 1998, Complaint against Nickolas Spanos by HCCA Howard Vick.
- December 14, 1998, Federal warrant for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution.
- July 07, 2001, Motion by Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney's Office to dismiss the December 14, 1998 federal warrant issued against Nickolas Spanos.
- July 07, 2001, Dismissal order of the December 14, 1998 federal warrant.
Spanos's attorney question the Henrico County Circuit Court Clerk as to the missing case files, in which they answered "only the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney's office have access to these files and it is highly irregular that files are missing". The present HCCA is Shannon Taylor.
Spanos's attorney then contacted the U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, who ordered the Nickolas Spanos Federal file from archives. In an email to Spanos's attorney, they stated that there were no records/documents prior to 2007. The Federal motions, warrants and dismissals have now disappeared from the U.S. Attorneys Office in Richmond, Virginia. The U.S. Attorney's office is investigating the missing documents.
The obvious question is who has the most to gain by the 1998-2001 Henrico County Circuit Court and U.S. Attorney's office federal files to disappear? The first suspect coming to mind is Nickolas Spanos, but he is located in Greece and had no access to both government agency files, besides it does not change the fact that 13 grand jury indictments are still active, thus it greatly rules him out.
The next alleged suspect would be McGuire-Woods partner Howard Vick, the cloud of suspicion grows darker as to the highly irregular actions of Howard Vick while he was the HCCA prosecuting Nickolas Spanos and his refusal to have him extradited despite having federal warrants issued for his unlawful flight.
Howard Vick was negotiating his partnership with McGuire-Woods, managing partner Richard Cullen, during the investigation and grand jury hearings that indicted Nickolas Spanos on 13 counts of conspiracy to distribute Cocaine. If HCCA Howard Vick would have extradited Spanos from Greece and prosecuted him, it would have shut the door on his partnership with McGuire-Woods law firm. READ ARTICLE ON VICK REUNITED WITH CULLEN AT MCGUIRE-WOODS
Howard Vick worked for Richard Cullen before he was appointed Henrico Commonwealth's attorney when Cullen was U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Our next blog will focus on who is powerful enough to illegally purge the files of both Henrico County Circuit Court and the U.S. Attorneys Office, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division.
