The biggest con on the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorneys office.

Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney’s con artist Witness “L”

Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney Howard Vick described their main witness as “providing an enormous amount of information, including details about many other individuals’ involvement with the drug organisation….” against the accused Nickolas Spanos, who Vick labelled “the hub of a 600 kilo cocaine organisation.”

Witness “L” Sierra Elaina Cooke

The main witness is listed in the December 03, 1998 Richmond multi-jurisdictional grand jury as “Witness L”, aka Sierra Elaina Cooke, the ex-girlfriend and mother of Nickolas Spanos’s son. The separated couple had been in a turbulent relationship for eight years, which ended up in a custody battle over their son. Sierra Cooke wanted to reconcile with Spanos but he had moved on to another relationship, Sierra Cooke used her son as a weapon against Spanos, denying him visitation, despite getting over $670 per month in child support. Nickolas Spanos filed for full custody in Henrico County Juvenile and Domestic court.

Sierra Cooke had stooped to numerous desperate acts to retaliate against Spanos, filing a false charge of stalking against Spanos, despite her constant harassment of Spanos, following him to restaurants, bars and social events, confronting Spanos’s dates and relationships, claiming there were still a couple. Sierra Cooke physically assaulted him at his parent’s home late night and would stalk him at bars, throwing drinks at him at bars.

As time got closer to their custody hearing, Sierra E. Cooke began making claims of a drug organisation headed by Nickolas Spanos, which caught the ears of Henrico Police Department investigators J.L. Johnson and Clavert, in which she gave a exaggerated tale of a New York to Virginia organisation. The HPD detectives began their investigation of Nickolas Spanos, following him to social gatherings at public places, trespassing on his property and stealing his trash at his private residence, entering his residence under false pretences and illegally searching it, illegally searching his vehicle and attempting buy-bust operations. The detectives could not obtain any material evidence of narcotics trafficking against Spanos, despite two years of surveillance.

The HPD detectives and Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney Howard Vick knew that their main witness Sierra Cooke had serious mental issues, as she attempted suicide on Christmas day and was held for a seventy-two hour suicide watch, Sierra pleaded to be released and her parents stated “leave her in there, it will do her some good”. The custody hearings produced evidence of Sierra Cooke committing several acts of perjury and fabricated stories, which she could not explain. They also knew that Sierra Cooke was a con artist, as it was reported that she had committed at least two acts of insurance fraud, faking injury to get compensation.

In the December 03, 1998 grand jury hearings, in indictment CR07-67, Witness “L”, aka Sierra Cooke, admitted that she transported and sold large amounts of cocaine, admitted that she lived in the New Jersey-New York area, known for being a cocaine hub. Sierra Cooke admitted knowing a major cocaine dealer in New York named “Emilio”. Sierra Cooke admitted to being personally involved in drug transactions with two other cocaine dealers. Why wasn't Sierra Cooke charged with distribution of cocaine? Here we have a cocaine dealer admitting to being personally involved in large cocaine transactions over a period of at least five years and she gets a pass? Inside sources in the Henrico Commonwealth Attorney’s office stated that “it became known to us that Sierra Cooke and one of the HPD investigators has a close personal relationship for several years, another reason why we avoided to extradite him, for fear this would surface and be an embarrassment to us all”.

In our previous articles, The International Fugitive Chronicles”, https://virginiacorruptlawyers.blogspot.com/2017/11/when-extradition-for-international.html, we covered the corruption involved in the case of Nickolas Spanos. In the January 01, 2019 article, Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor et al, faces serious problems for 2019, Sierra Cooke made negative comments about Nickolas Spanos, stating he was convicted of stalking and she was the victim of domestic violence. We were well aware of Spanos’s criminal record through our investigations, in which the only conviction he has is a misdemeanor for a DUI in 1998. We challenged Sierra Cooke to send us evidence of his conviction for stalking.

On January 25, 2019, Sierra Cooke sent us an email with a December 29, 1998 Style Weekly article written by Richard Foster, which stated that Nickolas Spanos was convicted of stalking and that Sierra Cooke was awarded $3000 in damages and that she was granted a verdict to keep a $10,000 engagement ring. We emailed Nickolas Spanos to verify this information, his email states that the stalking charge was dismissed, there was no damages awarded to Sierra Cooke and that the $10,000 engagement ring was returned to him after he won the civil case, adding the fact, Sierra Cooke and her mother attempted to appeal the decision but returned the valuable ring, to his Attorney Murray Janus, when they learned of the $10,000 bond needed to secure the appeal.

We emailed Sierra Cooke to provide us with any evidence of Nickolas Spanos conviction, the $3000 damages decision and the $10,000 engagement ring decision in her favour, Sierra Cooke has not responded to this writing. Surely if she kept a defamatory Style Weekly article from 1998, she would have retained court records giving merits to her claim. We verified with Henrico County Court that no such judgements have been recorded against Spanos.

We contacted Style Weekly reporter Richard Foster, who is still employed by Style Weekly, requesting evidence of the defamatory claims he wrote in his article, Richard Foster has yet to answer. Nickolas Spanos stated that, when we sent him the article for verification, “it was the first time he had seen it and was only aware of Richmond Times Dispatch articles written of him”. Spanos stated that he is in contact with Style Weekly about the defamatory article and is awaiting response from the Executive Editor.

We decided to look further into the strange claims of domestic violence by Sierra Cooke and requested to Nickolas Spanos to provide any facts that would dispute her claims. Nickolas Spanos stated that Sierra Cooke had even sent him a copy of his criminal record in September 2006, which showed no conviction for stalking, only a misdemeanor DUI conviction.

He further stated that Sierra Cooke had been chasing and harassing him for over 18 years, she went as far as to travel to Greece to meet him and reconcile with him. Spanos provided several emails and pictures of them in Greece. Its very strange that Witness L, Sierra Cooke, who is a alleged victim of domestic violence and feared for her life, that she would travel to Greece to meet Nickolas Spanos, begging him to forgive her and take her back.

Sierra Cooke 2006 Greece

We decided to further investigate Sierra Cooke and researched her background, on her LinkedIn profile, Sierra Cooke states that from 2014 to present day, she is employed by Safe Harbor as a Court Advocate. “I get so much more than what I offer . I am trained as a court advocate which is an extension of the CA office in Henrico, I work with victims of intimate partner violence. This experience has been life changing for me and hope for all those I offer my service to. This is truly a great cause on an enormous social issue.”  We contacted Safe Harbor, a non-profit organization, about Sierra Cooke’s employment and training, which they have denied having any affiliation with Sierra Cooke.

SIERRA COOKE FALSE CLAIMS AS A COURT ADVOCATE FOR VICTIMS

Since we challenged Witness L Sierra Cooke to all her unsubstantiated claims, Sierra Cooke has not provided any evidence or responded to any of our emails, she has disappeared, the usual tactics of con artists when they are caught. We asked Nickolas Spanos why would she continue to harass him and make false claims, he stated ” it always has been about extortion, threats and blackmail, she knew that my family and I had a good reputation in Richmond and attempted to extort me for more child support money. I agreed to pay the exact amount that Henrico County Child Services calculated. Then she threatened me when our son was to begin college, if I did not pay his tuition, she would turn me into U.S. authorities for being a “fugitive from justice”, I denied her extortion threats and she notified the U.S. Embassy of my location in the Philippines. I would have gladly paid his tuition but she never abided by the Court child custody agreement, even from day one, she denied my visitation, I only saw my son 1 time in 20 years, when she sent him to Greece.

The Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney continues to stand behind Witness “L” Sierra Elaina Cooke despite knowing that she, on numerous court testimony gave false statements, committed perjury, insurance fraud, admitted to dealing large amounts of cocaine and continues to harass Nickolas Spanos. It appears that three generations of Henrico Commonwealth Attorneys can not admit that they have been scammed into a “witch hunt” and if they brought Nickolas Spanos to trial, it would be the biggest embarrassment of all times.

International fugitive drug case could bring career ending problems for Shannon Taylor

Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor et al, faces serious problems for 2019

The 20 year old case of an international fugitive accused of distributing more than 600 kilos of cocaine in the Richmond area could bring career ending sanctions and criminal charges for Henrico County Commonwealth Attorneys Shannon Taylor and Michael Feinmel.

Virginia Corrupt Lawyers was able to obtain a December 19, 2018 filing which demanded sanctions and investigations into HCCA office and the Henrico County Circuit Clerks office, stating criminal actions, Constitutional and Civil rights violations.

READ PDF SANCTIONS-INVESTIGATION

Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Michael Y. Feinmel is accused of perjury, submitting false evidence and witnesses in his July 21, 2014 affidavit requesting extradition from Greece for the international fugitive Nickolas Spanos, he is also accused of Constitutional and Civil rights violations, which is a federal crime under U.S. Sec. 242 of Title 18, violation of the Color of Law.

A long list of prosecutorial misconduct, blatant disregard for the rules and procedures of the Virginia Supreme Court and the Department of Justice procedures is stated in the sanctions filings.

Crucial missing documents and orders are missing from the Henrico County Circuit Court Clerks office. Staff in the Henrico County Circuit Courts office have verified that crucial motions and orders are missing from their files which have been recorded on their database management system.

A hearing date for the Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice the 13 grand jury indictments is scheduled for January 17, 2019 in Henrico County Circuit Court by Judge L.A. Harris.

Copies of the complaint have been filed with the Virginia State Bar, in which Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor sits on the Legal Ethics Committee and was the 1st woman to be elected to the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney position.

More serious accusations of personal and professional gain are stated in the complaint filed, in which Henrico County Circuit Court Judge L. A. Harris will decide if and what sanctions will be imposed, more serious is if Judge L.A. Harris will turn over the sanction filed to federal authorities for investigation.

CA Shannon Taylor and Michael Feinmel inherited the international fugitives case from ex-HCCA Howard Vick and Wade Kizer. The highly peculiar case continues to raise many suspicions on why the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorneys office has avoided to extradite the international fugitive. Howard Vick is a partner with McGuireWoods law firm, the same law firm who represented the accused drug dealer for over 25 years.

The irregular actions of three generations of HCCA, amounting to over 20 years, have given a strong basis for dismissing 13 grand jury indictments against the accused drug dealer.

Present HCCA Shannon Taylor is scheduled to represent the Democratic party in the 2019 Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney elections slated for November 2019, but her chances seem to be extinguished with the illegal actions involving the Nickolas Spanos case.

It is uncomprehendable of why would 3 generations of HCCA would be giving safe haven to an international fugitive from being extradited, violating their sworn oath, risking their professional careers and possibly being charged with felonies.

McGuireWoods Shadow government exposed in Richmond court filing

NIGHTMARES CONTINUE FOR VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY SHANNON TAYLOR

The day has come that Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor has been having nightmares about, on September 26, 2018, "International Fugitive" Nickolas Spanos has filed his "Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice" thirteen indictments for conspiracy to distribute cocaine dating back from 1998-1999. In his motion, he has exposed the "shadow government" that has controlled the Virginia justice system for at least 20 years and has put 3 generations of Henrico Prosecutors in the hot seat.

In his 300 page motion to dismiss the thirteen indictments, 240 pages are exhibits of evidence exposing the McGuireWoods "shadow government" controlling the Henrico Commonwealth Attorneys office, which done its best to keep the "international fugitive" from being prosecuted in the Henrico County courts, for allegedly distributing over 600 kilos of cocaine in the Richmond for over ten years. 

The motion to dismiss is highly unusual in many ways:

• The thirteen grand jury indictments are from 1998-99, twenty years old.

• The Defendant is acting Pro Se, representing himself.

• The Defendant is located in Greece and has filed his motion to be heard by video and audio conference.

• The Defendant has offered numerous times to turn himself in to U.S. DOJ officials and voluntarily be extradited to Virginia to face trial but HCCA Shannon Taylor refused to pay for his flight.

• The Defendant had been arrested in the Philippines in 2012 and was awaiting extradition for 19 months but HCCA Shannon Taylor refused to file an extradition request and the fugitive was sent back to his safe haven of Greece.

The original HCCA Howard "Toby" Vick, who claimed that Spanos was the "hub of an organization that distributed over 600 kilos of cocaine", had the sole responsibility to bring the fugitive to justice but betrayed his sworn duty to the Commonwealth of Virginia in order to get his "golden ticket" with McGuireWoods law firm. Until now, his "bribe" has paid off well, Howard Vick co-heads of the firm's white collar practice of McGuireWoods largest office out of 26 offices located internationally. CLICK TO SEE HOWARD VICK PROFILE

Howard Vick's decision to become deaf and blind as Henrico Chief prosecutor has earned him a mansion in Windsor farms worth over $2,000,000 and a summer home in Coral Cables, Florida.

The evidence of the September 26, 2018 motion exposes the "shadow government" operated by McGuireWoods law firm, the same law firm that represented Nickolas Spanos and his family. During the grand jury hearings, HCCA Howard "Toby" Vick was negotiating his partnership with McGuireWoods law firm and within one year of the last indictments being issued against Spanos, Howard Vick resigned early from the HCCA to join his mentor, Richard Cullen, the managing partner of McGuireWoods law firm.

Evidence of ex-FBI director James B. Comey is entangled in the "shadow government", James Comey was the assistant U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia in 2001, who for no valid reason, voluntarily dismissed the Federal UFAP warrant against Nickolas Spanos. The 13 indictments were still active, there was no logic in dismissing the UFAP warrant, which took Spanos off the national and international criminal database and allowed him to renew his U.S. passport in 2006. James B. Comey was also a McGuireWoods partner prior to his joining the U.S. DOJ. Richard Cullen is also the godfather of one of James Comey's daughters.

The Motion to dismiss is based on the violation of Spanos's Constitutional rights, primarily the Speedy Trial Act of 1974. The evidence submitted shows that there was highly suspicious activity between the Henrico Commonwealths Attorney's office, U.S. Attorney's office (Richmond) and McGuireWoods law firm, concerning their lack of effort to extradite the fugitive despite knowing his exact location. 

For over 20 years, FBI officials in Virginia, Manila, Philippines and Greece had given the Henrico Commonwealth Attorneys exact information about Spanos to have him extradited to Virginia to be prosecuted but HCCA Howard Vick, Wade Kizer and Shannon Taylor refused to take any action, despite Spanos being arrested and detained in the Philippines for over 19 months awaiting extradition.

This unusual case is scheduled to be heard on January 17, 2019 at the Henrico Circuit Court and is one to follow as it will put pressure on the hearing judge to either abide by his sworn duty and uphold the Constitution or fall into the claws of the "shadow government".

Ex-FBI Director James Comey tied to corruption involving International Fugitive Nickolas Spanos

James Comey joins the deep corruption involving "International fugitive" Nickolas Spanos

    

On July 06 2001, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia James Comey signed an order to dismiss a Federal Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution warrant against Nickolas Spanos

The original federal UFAP warrant was issued on December 11, 1998, by request of the Henrico County P.D. to the FBI, which issued the affidavit to issues the UFAP warrant. The December 11, 1998 affidavit contained enough information to have Nickolas Spanos extradited from Greece, even his exact location given by family members, "Spanos is currently residing with an Uncle in Athens, Greece". The uncles address is listed in Henrico county property and tax records, as he was a partner with other Spanos family members. Click to View 1998-2001 federal UFAP file

See our previous article, Henrico County Circuit Court and U.S. Attorney federal files go missing in International Fugitives case
The U.S. Attorneys office, Richmond Division, searched effortlessly through numerous archive data files to locate the missing file and recently located them in Richmond City Circuit Court archives. The big question has been answered on who was powerful enough to have these 1998-2001 files go missing.

Why would U.S. Attorney James Comey have the federal UFAP warrant dismissed, if the 1998-99 13 indictments for Conspiracy to distribute cocaine were still active active. 

There is no statute of limitations on a federal UFAP warrant, and the indictments are still active, thus there is no reason to dismiss the subject UFAP warrants unless James Comey was instructed by someone who had a vested interest to dismiss them.

An inside source at the U.S. Attorneys office stated that in an inter-agency letter signed by James Comey, his reasons for dismissing the subject UFAP warrant was that "the U.S. government and Greece have no extradition treaty and Nickolas Spanos could not be extradited back to Virginia". By making this written statement, James Comey has committed both illegal and ethical violations, as the U.S. government and Greece had ratified an extradition treaty in 1932 and narcotics offences are listed in the extradition treaty. Click to view U.S. - Greece 1932 extradition treaty

In our previous articles, the same name keeps appearing, Richard Cullen, one of the most powerful attorneys in the Washington political arena. Click to view Richard Cullen: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Lets look at the connection between Richard Cullen and James Comey.

According to The Washington Post, Richard Cullen once worked with James Comey at McGuireWoods; Comey was hired to work at the law firm in 1993, and he became a partner in 1996 and not only is Cullen his “close associate,” as news reports described, Cullen is godfather to one of Comey’s daughters. Click to view Richard Cullen is the "godfather" of James Comey's daughter

When James Comey was picked to be director of the FBI, Richard Cullen expressed his approval, telling the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Comey “will be a great director. There are many people in Richmond who remember him and his family fondly and are very pleased that the president has chosen him for such a vitally important position.”

Richard Cullen obstructed justice by having U.S. Attorney James Comey dismiss the federal UFAP warrants against Nickolas Spanos. This illegal action was for the sole purpose of being able to recruit HCCA Howard Vick to McGuireWoods in 2000, thus covering up the path of corruption.

Furthermore, by having the 1998-2001 federal warrant purged from the Henrico County Circuit Court, the Commonwealth Attorneys office and the U.S. Attorneys office files, adds more seriousness to the obstruction of justice.

Howard Vick, as the HCCA in 1998-2000, was legally and ethically obligated to pursue "International fugitive" Nickolas Spanos by cancelling his U.S. passport and notifying Greek DOJ authorities to have him deported as an "undocumented alien", an extradition request to Greece DOJ would have been an extra step which would have proved successful as Greece has no tolerance for narcotics trafficking/distribution.

In the July 06, 2001 FBI affidavit, Henrico police investigator J.T. Johnson stated "requested the assistance of the FBI in locating Spanos and assured that the Commonwealth of Virginia would extradite Spanos upon his arrest."

This is a very opposite message that HCCA Howard Vick has given, considering Howard Vick knew Spanos's exact location, Spanos was not a citizen of Greece until March 2000 and that the U.S. government and Greece have an extradition treaty.

International Fugitive Federal files suspiciously disappear

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. 

In a previous blog, we covered on three generations of Henrico Commonwealth Attorneys avoiding to extradite international fugitive Nickolas Spanos. READ ARTICLE Avoiding to "extradite an international fugitive" leads to corruption

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:

1. December 11, 1998, Complaint against Nickolas Spanos by HCCA Howard Vick.
2. December 14, 1998, Federal warrant for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution.
3. July 07, 2001, Motion by Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney's Office to dismiss the December 14, 1998 federal warrant issued against Nickolas Spanos.
4. 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.

Numerous requests were made to HCCA Shannon Taylor for Brady Materials but Shannon Taylor refused to give the Brady Documents, violating Spanos's constitutional rights. Read article on Is Henrico County CA Shannon Taylor deliberately sabotaging her case to protect the files of Commonwealth v. Spanos?

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.

McGuire Woods law partners entangled with International Fugitive

McGuire-Woods LLP. Partners drowning in criminal and ethics violations 

Two of the most prominent McGuire-Woods partners in Richmond, Va.  have found themselves entangled in a web of corruption, ethics violations and criminal actions involving an "international fugitive" who was their client.

Attorneys Howard "Toby" Vick and W. Birch Douglass III attempted to cover up a legal ethics situation which originated in 1998-99, when a McGuire-Woods client named Nickolas G. Spanos was indicted by a Multi-jurisdictional Grand Jury for allegedly conspiring to distribute more than 600 kilos of cocaine in the Richmond area. Howard Vick was the Henrico County Commonwealths Attorney who engineered the case against Spanos in 1997-99 for 13 counts of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

CLICK TO VIEW MCGUIRE-WOODS HOWARD VICK PROFILE

CLICK TO VIEW MCGUIRE-WOODS W. BIRCH DOUGLASS PROFILE

Unknown to Howard Vick, Spanos was a client of McGuire-Woods since 1992 upon the death of his father, which appointed him Trustee of his late fathers estate. W. Birch Douglass represented numerous members of the Spanos family, which included Nickolas Spanos, his mother, two sisters and an uncle.

Just prior to the grand jury indictments being announced to the public on December 05, 1998, Nickolas Spanos was in Athens, Greece, after being warned by HCCA Howard Vick that indictments would be issued against him and that he had the "option" of leaving for Greece but "could not return. SEE PREVIOUS ARTICLE ON COVERING UP AN EXTRADITION

It is unclear at that time if Howard Vick knew that Spanos was a McGuire-Woods client but Howard Vick was negotiating a partnership with McGuire-Woods managing partner Richard Cullen. SEE ARTICLE ON VICK REUNITES WITH CULLEN AT MCGUIRE-WOODS

This begins the entangled web, if Vick was to make good on his public threat of extraditing Spanos from Greece and having him stand trial for the alleged cocaine distribution indictments, it would extinguish his golden ticket partnership with McGuire-Woods. McGuire Woods LLP. is a U.S. law firm with more than 1,000 attorneys in 23 offices across the United States, Asia and Europe. The firm's largest offices are in Richmond, VA, Charlotte, NC, and Chicago, IL 

Despite Vick issuing federal warrants for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on December 11,1998, Vick never pursued the extradition nor did he even cancel Spanos's U.S. passport, which could have easily had him deported as an undocumented foreigner. Despite Spanos being of Greek heritage, his Greek citizenship was not formalized until 2000, thus he was in Greece on a U.S. passport.

At some point after the December 05, 1998 media announcement, Birch Douglass must have informed McGuire-Woods managing partner Richard Cullen that Spanos and his family were all clients of McGuire-Woods, Douglass could have possibly known of the upcoming partnership with Howard Vick. This valuable information must have been passed on to Howard Vick, which had to make a very dangerous decision, violate his sworn oath to the Virginia Commonwealth Attorneys Office, turning his back on the justice system he had fought for almost 20 years, in turn selling his soul for the "golden ticket" with McGuire-Woods. Howard Vick could not have both. Despite Spanos daring Vick to bring him back and that Vick's case was built on fabrication, lies and false testimonies, Vick responded by only barking at Spanos in the media.

HCCA Howard Vick's case against Spanos got stronger as three of Spanos's associates pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine in April 1999, despite knowing Spanos's exact location in Athens, Greece, Howard Vick sat on the federal arrest warrant and 13 grand jury indictments as he negotiated his partnership with McGuire-Woods. This decision would haunt him 20 years later.

In May 1999, one of Spanos's sisters sent him a letter requesting Spanos to resign as the Trustee of his late fathers multi-million dollar estate. Nickolas Spanos called Birch Douglass to obtain legal advise, in which Birch Douglass stated that there was no provision for his removal as Trustee and their was no reason why estate business could not be conducted through phone calls, email and courier service. Spanos gave Birch Douglass all his contact details, in which Birch Douglass sent Spanos via mail, information on a pending VDOT condemnation of a land partnership involving the estate. Nickolas Spanos then informed his sisters and mother of the legal advise Birch Douglass had given him and that he would not resign as trustee.

On August 06, 1999, Spanos's mother and sisters, all clients of Birch Douglass, submitted to Henrico County Circuit Court to remove Nickolas Spanos as trustee and appoint them as trustees. Knowing this was a tremendous ethics violation, representing the same clients and filing cases against each other, is a big no-no in the legal profession. In doing so, McGuire-Woods would solve the one problem of representing "international fugitive" Nickolas Spanos while establishing a partnership with HCCA Howard Vick, thus hopefully eliminating a conflict of interest. The factors of excessive legal fees to transact this enormous ethical violation would be billed to George Spanos Family Estate while Nickolas Spanos was still Trustee, another ethical violation. 

Their greed was even more evident when they asked Birch Douglass to draft an October 01, 1999 trust agreement which would replace the trust that George Spanos had made for his only son to protect him from that same greed of the family members. The newly drafted trust agreement would cause Nickolas Spanos enormous financial damage and undermine the trust that George Spanos had in McGuire-Woods partner Birch Douglass. Birch Douglass agreed to draft the October 01, 1999 trust agreement and gave it to the mother and sisters to sign, in which they did and later recorded in Richmond city.

On October 16, 1999, the subject motion to remove Nickolas Spanos as trustee of the George Spanos Family Estate was ordered and replace him with his mother and two sisters. The service process to serve Spanos was served at his mothers home not at Spanos's address in Athens, Greece where all parties knew this was his permanent residence. Birch Douglass and William M. Hutchins knew that all civil service process must be served through the HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE SERVICE ABROAD OF JUDICIAL AND EXTRA-JUDICIAL DOCUMENTS IN CIVIL OR COMMERCIAL MATTERS, but yet they turned their back on their client Nickolas Spanos, taking away his due process of law, violating their legal sworn duty to their client and violating the Virginia State Bar Code of Professionalism. Nickolas Spanos was not informed of any of these illegal actions against him until sometime in April 2000 when he inquired why no estate documents had been sent to him, upon inquiring to his family, they informed him that they had removed him as trustee and that it was done by McGuire-Woods law firm. CLICK TO VIEW PDF MCGUIRE-WOODS/SPANOS FILINGS

Nickolas Spanos attempted to contact Birch Douglass but Douglass would not accept his phone calls or communicate with him nor did Birch Douglass verify to him of the unethical removal as his late fathers wishes as trustee.  Spanos then contacted his family demanding the estate accounting, in which they replied by fax "do not bother us any more, are you stupid". Spanos sent the subject fax to Birch Douglass and stated "this is what you have done, do you understand why my fathers wishes were for me to be trustee, as he did not trust his daughters to carry out his wishes". Birch Douglass realized what an ethical mess he made and decided to send all the Spanos family files back to them by courier with a short note that they could no longer represent them as there was a "conflict of interest". Birch Douglass never notified Nickolas Spanos that he was terminating the relationship or did he send his files back, thus the Attorney-Client relationship still existed.

Howard Vick was now free to join McGuire-Woods as a partner, in which he tendered his early resignation as Henrico County Commonwealths Attorney in May 2000 and formally joined McGuire-Woods in June 2000. Unknown to Howard Vick and Richard Cullen, the Attorney-Client relationship with Nickolas Spanos still existed and would continue to until November 2017. 

To insure further that the Spanos issue would not come back to haunt McGuire-Woods Howard Vick and Birch Douglass, they pressured Howard Vick's successor, Wade Kizer, to the Henrico County Commonwealths Attorneys office to have the 1998 federal warrants for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution dismissed by order of a government motion on July 06, 2001 (see above article photo). This would remove "international fugitive" Nickolas Spanos from any criminal search database, this action would prove successful. On September 10, 2006, Nickolas Spanos walks into the U.S. Embassy Athens and applies to renew his USA passport, 4 days later, he picks up his brand new USA Passport with no questions asked. His previous USA passport expired on June 14, 2003.

For 11 years, Nickolas Spanos would travel around Europe and Asia with no complications, the McGuire-Woods partners had forgotten about Nickolas Spanos until October 18, 2012 when by some fluke he was arrested by Philippines Immigration officials from an alert by U.S. Embassy Manila legal attaches who were tipped off by a disgruntled ex-girlfriend of Spanos.

The U.S. Embassy Manila legal attaches (FBI) would inform Henrico County Commonwealths Attorney Shannon Taylor that they had caught their fugitive and they would cancel his U.S. passport and have the Philippines Immigration deport him. The technical problem arose that Spanos had only travelled to the Philippines with his Greek issued passport under the name Nikolaos Spanoudis. The FBI declared to Philippine officials that it was a fraudulent passport and that he was to be deported to the USA. The Greek embassy in the Philippines quickly confirmed in two weeks that in fact Spanos aka Spanoudis passport was certified authentic. The U.S. embassy FBI notified HCCA Shannon Taylor must process an extradition request from the Philippine government as they could no longer deport him as the Greek government nationality took priority. 

This created another problem for McGuire-Woods partners, if Spanos was to be extradited to Henrico County to face the 13 grand jury indictments, a good defense attorney would most likely discover the numerous illegal cover ups by the three generations of Henrico County Commonwealth Attorneys spanning 16 years which would raise numerous due process violations and the charges would be dismissed.

Under the Philippine-USA Extradition treaty, Spanos was to only be held for sixty days under provisional arrest and if the U.S. DOJ did not submit the required documents for extradition, then Spanos would be set free. Despite numerous requests by the Philippines DOJ for certified authenticated copies of the grand jury indictments, HCCA Shannon Taylor continued to refuse their requests, hoping that they would set Spanos free. Unfortunately for McGuire Woods partners and the HCCA, corrupt Philippine Immigration officials  took advantage of the situation and attempted to extort Spanos for $150,000 as to release him, instead of paying, Spanos fought back filing numerous criminal complaints against them. All this created a problem between U.S. embassy FBI, HCCA Shannon Taylor and Philippine DOJ officials. CLICK TO VIEW U.S. Embassy Manila legal attaches tied to extortion syndicate

Nickolas Spanos was held in a Philippine jail for 19 months under inhumane conditions with denial of due process, denial of medical treatment and numerous human rights violations while waiting on HCCA Shannon Taylor to process an extradition request, which she never did. On June 01, 2014, Philippine DOJ officials deported Spanos back to Greece.

Shannon Taylor knowing that Greece would not extradite one of their own citizens and wanting to cover up her illegal actions in the Philippines, she assigned Henrico County Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Michael Y. Feinmel to issue an Interpol Red Notice for Spanos arrest while he was in transit to Greece, upon landing in Greece, Spanos was arrested and held pending an extradition request by the HCCA.

On September 24, 2014, a Greek tribunal denied the extradition request by the U.S. DOJ but had charged Spanos for the 13 grand jury indictments under Greek law. The Greek justice ministry requested from HCCA that they provide all evidence in the case against Spanos. The HCCA office never responded to their requests and Spanos was tried based on the evidence presented in the Extradition request. The trial was set for March 27, 2015 and Spanos was to be held at Korydallos prison until his hearing.

On January 13, 2015, while Spanos was in prison, his mother passed away from complications arising from a broken hip at her daughters house, the delay in receiving immediate treatment led to complications and his mother was in a coma until her death.

On March 27, 2015, a Greek tribunal dismissed all charges against Spanos and released him from Korydallos prison, during that time he never had a chance to speak with his mother prior to her death.

On June 15, 2015, the attorney for the Artemis X. Spanos estate, Robert Freed, sent Spanos a copy of her will and his trust, which for the first time Spanos learned that his original trust set up for him by his late father had been replaced with the October 01, 1999 trust, which substantially damaged his financial position. The other major factor was that in the original trust, Spanos was named trustee but in the October 01, 1999 replacement trust, a sister in which they had hostile relations was named trustee, which inflicted great mental stress on Spanos.

Spanos had lost his very successful company in the Philippines which employed over 400 people and thus concentrated on reuniting his family from the Philippines to Greece, which after 6 months he brought his wife and son to Greece. 

Over the next 2 years, Spanos struggled with his trustee sister and the obvious hatred did not diminish, he had to take some legal action in which he decided to contact his trust attorney. On December 04, 2017, Spanos wrote an email to Birch Douglass, informing him of the problems with his sister trustee and what action could be taken for him to resolve it. Only then on December 05, 2017 response email by Birch Douglass did Spanos learn that McGuire-Woods had terminated their client relationship as quoted below:

"Neither I nor anyone else at McGuireWoods has had any contact with members of the Spanos family for over 15 years and do not serve as attorney for you or any members of your family and are not willing to do so in the future because of ethical conflict of interest considerations based on prior legal representations."  

Birch Douglass

Spanos wrote to Birch Douglass that he had never been informed of the termination of representation, or that his files had been returned to him. Spanos requested that his files be returned, Birch Douglass never responded or returned his files.

Spanos retained the services of an attorney to assist in retrieving court documents filed by McGuire-Woods attorneys and to contact them in reference to the ethics violations and to address the concerned issues, no reply was made by McGuire-Woods.

Attorneys Howard Vick and W. Birch Douglass were contacted for comments but they did not return emails. William M. Hutchins, who left McGuire-Woods llp. to become a Senior Vice-President with The Trust Company of Virginia, had suffered a stroke sometime after being informed by Spanos's attorney of the ethics violations and request for his malpractice insurance carrier.

Further updates to this article will be posted as they surface.