Law Practice
Aug. 1, 2002
Former Lawyer Gets Time for Tax Evasion
LOS ANGELES - A federal judge has sentenced a former personal injury lawyer, who practiced in Los Angeles and San Francisco, to 15 months in prison for income tax evasion.
Derrick Anthony Hoo, 56, of Mission Hills, who was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Morrow, pleaded guilty to failing to report $281,000 in personal income over a 5-year period.
According to prosecutors, Hoo derived his income from 13 client trust accounts at six different banks. He issued checks drawn on the accounts to pay his personal expenses, including his mortgage, car and credit card payments, and wrote personal checks to himself, prosecutors said.
Admitted to the State Bar in 1974, Hoo resigned in 1999 with charges pending, according to State Bar records. He also received disciplinary action in 1995 and 1996 for mismanaging client funds, according to bar records, and served one 6-month suspension. He was on a 5-year combined probation at the time of his resignation.
In 2000, the bar paid an unspecified amount of money in claims to several of Hoo's former clients from its client security fund.
Susan Mc Rae
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