Virginia lawyers get prison terms for $200M Roundup extortion scheme

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Virginia lawyers get prison terms for $200M Roundup extortion scheme

9/18/20 REUTERS LEGAL 20:49:52 • Copyright (c) 2020 Thomson Reuters • David Thomas
REUTERS LEGAL • September 18, 2020

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday sentenced Virginia attorney Timothy Litzenburg, 38, to two years in prison for attempting to extort $200 million from a company that makes a chemical used in Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller.
U.S. District Judge Norman Moon in Charlottesville, Virginia, also sentenced Litzenburg's law partner, Daniel Kincheloe, 41, to one year for his role in the scheme.

"These two attorneys flagrantly violated their ethical duties to their own clients as they sought to extort a company out of $200 million," Brian Rabbitt, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's criminal division, said in a statement after the sentencing hearings. "Attorneys who cross the line and abuse their status as officers of the court will be held accountable for their actions."

Both men pleaded guilty in June to transmitting interstate communications with the intent to extort. Federal prosecutors described Kincheloe's cooperation as essential in securing a guilty plea from Litzenburg, allowing the government to more quickly obtain evidence that might have been subject to claims of attorney-client privilege.