Lawyer part of pot sale
An Albany attorney admitted Tuesday that she conspired to sell pounds of marijuana delivered to the Capital Region from California, sending money earned from selling weed back to the West Coast to buy more pot.
Authorities said Galina German, 31, of Menands, moved the drugs and money through bank transfers and overnight shipping. She once shipped cash to California hidden in a microwave, authorities said. The drugs would be sold in the city of Albany and Troy, court papers show.
Staff Writer Robert Gavin reports:
German pleaded guilty to fourth-degree conspiracy, a low-level felony, before Judge Thomas Breslin in Albany County Court. She faces 60 days in jail, five years probation, must pay $45,000 in cash and forfeit her 2010 Mercedes-Benz, paid for with drug proceeds.
With a felony conviction, German now faces disbarment.
Court papers show the conspiracy involved her live-in boyfriend, Nathaniel Innes, as well as a man identified as his brother, Marcus Kirkwood, who allegedly sent the drugs from California.
Authorities said the outfit helped moved hundreds of pounds of marijuana from the Golden State between Dec. 1, 2010 and May 13.
Innes pleaded guilty to criminal sale of marijuana. He faces two years in prison and two years post-release supervision. Federal prosecutors are expected to handle the case against Kirkwood, authorities said.
The guilty plea of German marks the downfall of a once-promising career for the attorney, a cum laude graduate of St. John’s University School of Law. While in school, German had been a staff member of the St. John’s Law Review and received an award for excellence in torts from the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction.
Based in Albany, German has practiced in real estate law, family law, criminal law, collections, and general litigation, according to a description of her at the Amsterdam-based Schwartz Law Firm, where she once worked on occasion.
Firm attorney Charles R. Schwartz said Tuesday she had long stopped working there.
But German had found no shortage of work trafficking pot, court papers show.
“The object of the conspiracy was to reinvest proceeds from the sale of (marijuana) in the acquisition of additional quantities of marijuana from the state of California for re-sale of marijuana to customers in and around the city and county of Albany,” the documents said, noting the drugs were also distributed to Troy.
California Family Law Lawyer - News
Based in Albany, German has practiced in real estate law, family law, criminal law, collections, and general litigation, according to a description of her at the Amsterdam-based Schwartz Law Firm, where she once worked on occasion. Firm attorney
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Visitation Rights – How a California Family Law Attorney Can Help ...
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