Law Firm Overview

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CAREER

John joined the United States Department of Justice in 1983 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina. John served that office as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and later as Chief of the Criminal Division. As Chief of the Criminal Division John was responsible for training and overseeing the cases of over 20 federal prosecutors located throughout South Carolina, as well as maintaining an active trial caseload of his own.

During his career John served the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Office in a number of other capacities, including Health Care Fraud Coordinator, Coordinator of the Department of Justice Anti-Terrorism Task Force and Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council for South Carolina, the U.S. Attorney Office’s International and National Security Coordinator, Border and Immigration Law Enforcement Coordinator and District Office Security Manager. As a result of his involvement with national security issues for the Department of Justice John held a “Top Secret” security clearance.

In recognition of his experience and abilities, the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys chose John to be appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina to handle a sensitive grand jury investigation after the U.S. Attorney’s Office in that district was recused.

TRIAL EXPERIENCE

John has been involved in some of the most complex, noteworthy and widely publicized cases in South Carolina’s history. He was one of the lead prosecutors in “Operation Lost Trust,” an FBI undercover investigation that not only resulted in 10% of the state legislature being convicted of corruption, narcotics and racketeering charges, but also the passage of some of the most sweeping political reform legislation in the country. As a result of his efforts in Operation Lost Trust John received a Special Commendation for Outstanding Service at a ceremony in the Department of Justice’s Great Hall of Justice in Washington.

Specializing in white collar crimes, John participated in the prosecution of State Senator Theo Mitchell for violations of the Internal Revenue Code, Nimer Sabal for his involvement in a multi-million dollar money laundering operation that was part of the Cali Cartel in Colombia, South America, and Timothy Walker, a disbarred lawyer engaged in bank fraud and money laundering. John has also handled numerous other complex white collar investigations, prosecutions and trials, including tax fraud (false returns, evasion, failure to file), health care fraud, embezzlement, forgery, government program fraud, bank fraud, insurance fraud, mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, obstruction of justice, public corruption, perjury and racketeering.

John has participated in countless government and grand jury investigations which have involved the use of virtually every law enforcement tool, including subpoenas, Authorized Investigative Demands, IRS Summonses, search warrants, forensic accounting, wire taps, computer hard drive imaging, undercover agents and witnesses, confidential informants, tape recordings, closed circuit television, tracking devices and classified information.

John was similarly involved in the prosecutions that arose from the investigation of the illegal use of steroids by members of the University of South Carolina football team, the prosecution of Drew Mills Dobson, a notorious bank robber dubbed the “Gentleman Bandit” by the media, and Henry Hamilton, who was the largest heroin dealer in Charleston at the time of his conviction.

John has also handled a wide variety of other types of prosecutions and trials, including immigration crimes, counterfeiting, firearms and explosives, marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin conspiracies, drug diversion, larceny, assault, rape and murder.

APPELLATE EXPERIENCE

John has extensive experience in research, appellate brief writing and oral argument. One of his responsibilities in the U.S. Attorney's Office included reviewing briefs written by other Assistant U.S. Attorneys in South Carolina, and at the request of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Education, he taught Appellate Advocacy to Assistant U.S. Attorneys at the National Advocacy Center. His appeals have involved a wide variety of issues, including sufficiency of the evidence, multiple sentencing issues, government impropriety, search warrants, investigative techniques, plea agreements, forced medication of inmates, jury selection and jury instructions.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

During his twenty-one year career with the United States Department of Justice John was a frequent lecturer for the Department’s Office of Legal Education. He traveled extensively around the country to appear as an instructor at Department of Justice seminars and also taught at the National Advocacy Center on topics such as evidence, conspiracy, grand jury practice and procedure, appellate practice and procedure, ethics, public corruption and defenses in criminal cases such as insanity, alibi and entrapment.

On a number of occasions John also served as faculty member for the United States Department of Justice’s “Criminal Trial Advocacy” course, an intensive two week training session designed to teach trial skills to new federal prosecutors.

As an Adjunct Professor for the University of South Carolina School of Law John taught “White Collar Crime” to second and third year law students.

John has also been a frequent lecturer for the South Carolina Bar Association as well as the Richland County Bar Association.

EARLY LEGAL CAREER

After graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1977 John entered private practice with the law firm of Alford & Johnson (now Barnes, Alford, Stork & Johnson) in Columbia, South Carolina, a firm specializing in civil and insurance defense litigation. While there John was actively involved in the early days of the asbestosis litigation against manufacturers of asbestos insulation products.

In 1980 John joined the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office as an Assistant Attorney General in Criminal Prosecution Section. Although assigned to the White Collar Crime Unit, John handled a wide variety of state prosecutions throughout South Carolina, from tax fraud to death penalty murder. John served as Chief of the Prosecution Section from 1982–1983.

After a short stint as Legal Counsel to then Governor Dick Riley (later Secretary of Education during the Clinton Administration), John joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in April, 1983.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

John lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with his wife of 27 years and their two teenage children. John’s wife, Barbara, is an attorney and is certified as a specialist in bankruptcy law by both the South Carolina Bar and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

John graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1974 with a B.A. in history and received his J.D. from the University of South Carolina Law School in May, 1977.

Areas of Practice

• Antitrust & Trade Regulation
• Criminal Law
• Environmental Law
• Health & Health Care Law
• Litigation & Appeals
• Securities Law
• White Collar Crimes

West Practice Categories

Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Criminal Law, White Collar Crimes, Environmental Law, Health & Health Care Law, Litigation & Appeals, Securities Law