Prominent Mo. lawyer sentenced to prison for fraud, tax evasion

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Prominent St. Louis attorney Charles Polk Jr., once a friend and associate of former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison for stealing from clients and evading taxes.

In addition to the three-year, 10-month sentence, U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh ordered Polk to pay a combined $560,623 in restitution to the Metropolitan Sewer District of St. Louis and to a man from Quincy, Ill., and to file back tax returns.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Reap said Polk owes more than $500,000 in unpaid taxes from 1998 through 2002.

"We should not expect the honest taxpayer to foot the bill for those who hide income from the IRS," said James Vickery, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Division.

A federal grand jury indicted Polk in March 2005 on 23 counts. He pleaded guilty this April to one felony count of tax evasion and one felony count of interstate transportation of money over $5,000 obtained by fraud.

There was no phone listing for Polk's home or office.

Polk represented the sewer district as special counsel in 1999 and 2000. Authorities said he stole money in part by submitting false and inflated invoices.

MSD spokesman Lance LeComb said Polk's activities cost the district $317,000. All but about $30,000 of that has been recovered.

"We're committed to getting all the money back -- each and every dollar," LeComb said.

Polk, who is black, publicly defended Ashcroft against charges of racism after Ashcroft was nominated as attorney general in 2001. He served as master of ceremonies when Ashcroft was sworn in.

Polk also made news in 2002 when he signed up Oklahoma City bombing survivors as clients with a promise to help win them government compensation in exchange for a percentage of the proceeds. About 120 survivors and victims' relatives from the 1995 bombing, which killed 168 people, signed up.

The intent was to win a share of the hundreds of millions of dollars set aside for families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The effort failed amid lawsuits and an ethics complaint involving Polk. Justice officials said Ashcroft was unaware of Polk's financial arrangement with the victims.

In the criminal case against Polk, authorities alleged he received $382,000 from the Quincy man for an investment in the Oklahoma City effort, but used the money for personal use.