February 8, 2002

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
San Diego, California

United States Attorney
Patrick K. O'Toole

For Immediate Release

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY

Patrick K. O'Toole, United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, and the Tax Division of the Department of Justice, announced today that the Honorable Jeffrey T. Miller sentenced former lawyer, Russell D. Ward to serve an eighteen month term of imprisonment for tax fraud. Ward pled guilty on July 25, 2001, to the felony offense of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. The court found that Ward's crime resulted in a loss to the IRS of more than $250,000 in tax revenue.

Ward was admitted to the California State Bar in 1988. He was a solo practitioner in San Diego County before he resigned from the Bar in January 1998.

"Lawyers are supposed to help their clients comply with the law, not help them find ways to violate it," said Rod J. Rosenstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Tax Division. "Tax evaders not only defraud the United States government, they also defraud honest taxpayers."

Ward admitted that he and Dr. Rick A. Shacket, D.O. diverted and concealed a total of $546,350 in taxable income by using several bank accounts, including Ward's attorney-client trust accounts. Ward also admitted that Shacket deducted the diverted funds on his corporate tax returns and failed to report the eventual receipt of the returned funds on his personal income tax returns.

In an indictment returned on August 9, 2001, Dr. Shacket was charged with tax fraud and health care fraud crimes, including conspiring with Ward. Dr. Shacket entered a plea of not guilty on August 10, 2001. His case is scheduled for trial on July 15, 2002.

Denise Rubin, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge for San Diego, stated, "The IRS places a high priority on criminal tax investigations that involve individuals diverting substantial amounts of income over a several year period."

Additional information about tax fraud can be found on the IRS Criminal Investigation website at http://www.ustreas.gov/irs/ci.

The cases are being prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Thomas W. Flynn and Brett A. Sagel.

DEFENDANT

Russell D. Ward
Alpine, California

SUMMARY OF CHARGE

Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, Conspiracy to Defraud the United States (one count). Maximum sentence of five years in prison and fine not to exceed $250,000.

AGENCIES

Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation
Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service

The Indictment itself is not evidence that defendant Shacket committed the crimes charged, and, like all defendants, Dr. Shacket is presumed innocent until the Government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.