Former Criminal Defense Attorney Sentenced To Two Years For Money Laundering

SAN JOSE - Jamie Harmon, also known as Jamie Harley, was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for money laundering, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Tatum King, Acting Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations, San Francisco.

Harmon, 57, of Morgan Hill, was convicted on July 20, 2010, of five counts of laundering monetary instruments after a three-week trial. During the trial, evidence showed that Harmon accepted two checks made payable to Silicon Valley Resale (“SVR”), a San Jose company that sold used computer equipment previously owned and operated by her former client, Christian Pantages, and another individual. Pantages testified that he told Harmon from the first time that he met with her that SVR was in the illegal business of selling stolen computer hardware, and that the two checks that Harmon accepted were the proceeds from the sale of stolen computer equipment. The jury convicted Harmon of laundering the two checks, knowing that the checks constituted the proceeds of the sale of stolen property, in an effort to conceal or disguise the nature of those funds.

Harmon was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 31, 2008. She was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h), and five counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(A)(i)(b)(i).

The two-year prison sentence was handed down by The Honorable Lucy H. Koh, U.S. District Court Judge, who also sentenced Harmon to a three-year period of supervised release and 200 hours of community service. Former United States District Court Judge James Ware presided over the trial in which a jury found Harmon guilty of five counts of laundering monetary instruments, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(A)(i)(b)(i). He declared a mistrial on the count charging Harmon with conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h), after the jury was unable to reach a verdict.  Following extensive post-trial litigation, the defendant was sentenced yesterday.  The defendant will begin serving the sentence on June 30, 2015.

Christian Pantages pleaded guilty on March 9, 2010, to charges of conspiracy to buy stolen goods constituting an interstate shipment and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He will be sentenced on February 18, 2015.

Susan Knight and Richard Cheng are the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Tracey Andersen. The prosecution is the result of an extensive investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team, Fremont Police Department, and Mountain View Police Department.