Prosecutors from New York have agreed to drop charges against a former Dewey & LeBoeuf employee, entitling him to go free. The man used to work as a client relations manager in the law firm and was said to have helped plan false accounting entries. The turnaround of his case makes him the second out of four ex-employees granted a dismissal after having been charged with the biggest law firm bankruptcy.
Instead of facing the charges filed against him, Zachary Warren is required to undergo 350 hours of community service. This decision comes after Warren was separately tried from the other three ex-employees of the defunct firm. The employees' prosecution led to a mistrial in October after a jury impasse on whether executives had told lies to investors in the run-up which led to the bankruptcy.
While the 31-year-old has accepted the community service agreement, he maintains his innocence from doing any wrongdoing and the charges filed against him. His attorney shares that they are pleased with the decision made by the District Attorney's office to dismiss the charges against Warren. When he worked at Dewey, Warren was not an attorney. His lawyer shares that he will be working at Williams & Connolly as an associate starting fall.
As for the other three executives, chairman Steven Davis had already reached a deal with prosecutors so he could avoid a second trial. Under the agreement, he is barred from practicing law for five years in New York. The other two-- executive director Stephen DiCarmine and chief financial officer Joel Sanders are awaiting trial, which has a tentative date for Sept. 12. The three men were charged with grand larceny while Warren was charged with less serious charges such as falsifying business records and scheming to defraud.
Warren has been scheduled to face a jury next month. Once he completes service in one year, the case against him will be formally dismissed by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.
