Thread: Immigration lawyer in court on federal charges

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Online edition > HOME Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 10:26 Am

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Immigration lawyer in court on federal charges

By Tim Vandenack

The Hutchinson News




tvandenack@hutchnews.com

A disbarred attorney and his wife, who used to serve southwest Kansas' immigrant population, face federal charges for allegedly filing forged documents with U.S. authorities.


James Phillips, who previously practiced in Liberal, Garden City, Wichita and Great Bend, made his first appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in Wichita and pleaded not guilty. His wife, Alicia Morales-Phillips, was arrested July 14 in Texas and has yet to appear in court in Kansas.

U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren in January filed eight felony counts against Phillips and Morales-Phillips, charging them with filing false documents with the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The prosecutor filed another eight parallel counts, charging each with creating false immigration documents, as well.

The indictments against the two - who last lived in Mesquite, Texas, according to federal authorities - had been sealed since January, but they were released last week after Phillips' arrest.

Now, Phillips, 62, is free on a $10,000, personal recognizance bond and a new court date has yet to be set. Phillips' attorney, Dan Monnat, said his client - now back in Wichita - will "vigorously" defend himself against the charges.

For her part, Morales-Phillips, 53, must be extradited to Kansas to face a judge here. The latest paperwork in her case indicates she remains in Mesquite.

Phillips had served Kansas' immigrant population at his various offices and his wife worked alongside him. In 2004, however, the Kansas Supreme Court disbarred Phillips, stemming in part from his apparent mishandling of four immigration cases.

A state disciplinary body charged he incompetently represented clients, did not keep them up to date on their cases and failed to refund legal fees when required.

Even setting aside the federal indictment, Morales-Phillips faces legal woes of her own.

The Kansas attorney general's office filed a civil suit against her in 2004, alleging she misrepresented herself as an attorney. Broadly, the suit states the woman took advantage of her customers' lack of English proficiency and understanding of U.S. law, filing legal documents on their behalf that contained mistakes.

Morales-Phillips never responded to the suit, and a judge in Barton County District Court issued a default judgment, ordering her to pay $700,000. A spokeswoman in the attorney general's office said state prosecutors still are searching for the woman's assets so they can collect.

In the latest charges, federal authorities allege that Phillips and his wife presented seven applications for alien employment certification bearing forged signatures. They say the two also filed an application for asylum with a forged signature.


07/26/2006; 02:33:57 AM



Copyright 2006 The Hutchinson News

Birds of a feather........

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Web posted Wednesday, February 7, 2007

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Immigration forgery trial to begin
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WICHITA (AP) -- A disbarred lawyer and his wife went on trial in federal court Tuesday, accused of forging signatures to help immigrants stay and work in the United States.

James S. Phillips Jr. and Alicia Morales-Phillips were indicted last year on 16 counts alleging they filed Applications for Alien Employment Certification on which business owners' signatures were faked.

The couple had served Kansas' immigrant population from offices in Wichita, Great Bend and elsewhere until Phillips was disbarred by the Kansas Supreme Court in 2004, partly for his apparent mishandling of four immigration cases.

Morales-Phillips, who is fluent in Spanish, worked as Phillips' office manager before the two were married. It was at her suggestion that he began taken immigration cases.

In opening statements Monday, defense lawyer Laura Shaneyfelt noted that Phillips was known for being disheveled and disorganized.

But being a bad lawyer doesn't make him a criminal, Shaneyfelt told jurors.

''Jim's practice shifted from what the kind of law he was familiar with to immigration law,'' Shaneyfelt said.

''He and Alicia would drive from one end of the state to the other, often at night, to meet with clients,'' she said.

Suspicions began arising about some of the documents the Phillipses filed around the Legal Immigration and Family Equality Act of 2000, which let foreign workers seek employment certification even if they were in the U.S. illegally. The deadline for filing applications was April 30, 2001.

Prosecution witness Jane Burbridge testified Monday that on the day of the deadline, she was working for the Kansas Foreign Labor Certification Office in Topeka when Morales-Phillips walked in with a foot-tall stack of applications.

But before she filed the forms, Burbridge testified, Morales-Phillips spent hours writing on them.

''Something didn't look right,'' Burbridge testified. She later asked an investigator for the Department of Labor to look into inconsistencies.

Among them: One application filed by Phillips' law office was signed by Albert Kramer, dated Feb. 15, 2003.

Lance Kramer, Albert's son, testified that his father died on Christmas Day 2002.

On cross-examination, the son verified it was his father's signature on the application, although the date looked as though it had been altered.

The trial is expected to last a week or more.

disbarred attorney and his wife, who used to serve southwest Kansas' immigrant population, face federal charges for allegedly filing forged documents with U.S. authorities

UH OH!! Becareful I believe it rubs off!!

Thats probably suppose to say illegal immigrant, Do you think?