DEFENSE ATTORNEY SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Veteran D.C. Defense Attorney Charles F. Daum Sentenced to Serve 63 Months in Prison for Obstruction of Justice

Veteran District of Columbia defense attorney Charles F. Daum was sentenced today to serve 63 months in prison on three counts of obstructing justice in a federal drug trafficking case, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Chief Cathy L. Lanier of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department; and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Daum, 66, of Arnold, Md., was sentenced before Senior U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in the District of Columbia. In addition to Daum’s prison sentence for obstruction of justice, he was sentenced to a concurrent term of 60 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and two counts of subornation of perjury. Daum was also sentenced to serve one year of supervised release.

"Daum went to extraordinary lengths to purposefully subvert the legal process in his client’s case," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. "He fabricated evidence and knowingly presented perjured testimony, betraying his profession and our system of justice. Today’s significant prison sentence is appropriate punishment for his crimes."

"Through a scheme of his own design, Mr. Daum purposefully concocted false evidence and submitted it to the court," said Assistant Director in Charge Parlave. "Today’s sentence demonstrates our diligence in protecting our judicial system from those individuals who attempt to violate its integrity."

The charges resulted from Daum’s representation of Delante White, who was indicted in March 2008 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia on federal drug trafficking charges following the execution of a search warrant on Feb. 23, 2008, at the home of White’s grandmother. After a six-week bench trial, Judge Kessler found beyond a reasonable doubt that after entering his notice of appearance in the case, Daum devised a plan to obtain and produce false evidence designed to convince the jury that the drugs seized by the police on Feb. 23, 2008, did not belong to White. Daum enlisted the help of co-conspirators Daaiyah and Iman Pasha, whom Daum had hired as investigators, and others to help carry out his scheme. Following Daum’s directions, the co-conspirators obtained duplicates of several items that were seized as evidence during the execution of the search warrant, including a digital scale, a razor blade, plates, an Adidas shoe box and a pair of Gucci boots. Once those items were obtained, Daaiyah and Iman Pasha made arrangements to take staged photographs of White’s brother depicted with the items, while apparently "cutting" "rock cocaine" in order to make it appear as though the seized drugs actually belonged to the brother. Daum later submitted the staged photographs, as well as other fabricated items, as evidence during White’s criminal trial. Judge Kessler also found that Daum solicited and presented the perjured testimony of two witnesses, in order to further obstruct and impede the administration of justice.

Private investigators Daaiyah Pasha, 62, of Washington, D.C., and Iman Pasha, 33, of Springfield, Va., were also sentenced today by Judge Kessler. Daaiyah Pasha was sentenced to serve three months in prison and three years of supervised release. Iman Pasha was sentenced to serve three months probation.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Darrin L. McCullough, Donnell Turner and Tritia Yuen of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section. The case was investigated by the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.