Because the News & Record has a history of threatening me when I post entire articles from their newspaper I am forced to post only excerpts but anyone who contacts me can get the full text of both articles. My e-mail address is at the top of the page.
"Paper: Greensboro News & Record (NC)
Title: STATE BAR SANCTIONS LAWYER FOR 2ND TIME
Date: February 19, 2004
A Greensboro attorney has been sanctioned by the North Carolina State Bar for the second time in two months for neglecting his clients and failing to repay some unearned legal fees.
Walter T. Johnson Jr., a prominent local attorney who is married to City Councilwoman Yvonne Johnson, was suspended from practicing law for three years for mishandling several cases.
In a consent order filed Friday, the bar said Johnson did not adequately investigate cases, failed to communicate with his clients and did not return unearned fees to two clients in a timely manner.
...
In January, the bar, the state agency that regulates the practice of law, suspended Johnson's license for three years for other, similar violations, including accepting "substantial" fees from prison inmates seeking parole who had almost no chance of getting paroled.
Johnson did not immediately return a phone message left at his home. His office number was disconnected. A state bar attorney also did not return a phone message seeking comment Wednesday.
...
On Friday, based on the complaints of five clients who dealt with Johnson between 1999 and 2003, the state bar ruled that Johnson neglected his clients. He did not respond to some clients' requests for information about their cases, did not research his cases and in one instance filed an appeal without the "references to the assignments of error and legal authority" needed to be successful, the bar said.
In January, the bar noted Johnson did not file timely income-tax returns for at least three years.
Former clients complained that Johnson misrepresented their chances for getting parole and ignored them once they paid his fees. "Basically, he did nothing for years," said Carolyn Page, who hired Johnson to help her nephew qualify for parole.
The state bar concluded Johnson "engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, deceit or misrepresentation" and "engaged in a pattern of misconduct which occurred over a period of at least four years."
...
The Johnsons filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April 1991. Yvonne Johnson has said the bankruptcy stemmed from her husband's unsuccessful home-building venture.
The original case is closed, but the federal government filed a related suit in 2002 seeking more than $564,000 in taxes from Walter Johnson.
...
Contact Scott Michels at 373-7077 or smichels@news-record.com
Copyright (c) 2004 Greensboro News & Record
Author: Scott Michels, Staff Writer
Section: TRIAD
Page: B3
Copyright (c) 2004 Greensboro News & Record"
And then there's this one from the year before. Remember: while everyone is talking about all the great things Yvonne Johnson is doing to help the poor criminals and take care of the taxpayers' money, husband Walter is stealing from same said poor criminals and taxpayers while Yvonne and Walter live high on the hog.
"Paper: Greensboro News & Record (NC)
Title: STATE'S DEBTORS NAMED ONLINE - DELINQUENT TAXPAYERS ARE EXPOSED ON A STATE WEB SITE.
Date: June 7, 2003
Take note, Michael O. Brown of Kernersville. You, too, Walter T. Johnson of Greensboro. The state wants its money.
Now.
Ah, shame - the great motivator. What would America be without it?
It's a tactic the N.C. Department of Revenue is using, with some success, to make delinquent taxpayers cough up the dough.
For 22 months, the department's Web site has published the N.C. Tax Debtors List, a running tally of North Carolinians who owe the state $5,000 or more. Since then, state tax collectors have recovered $162 million in unpaid income, withholding and sales tax.
Hey, whatever it takes.
``Look, it's a matter of fairness,'' said Norris Tolson, the state's secretary of Department of Revenue. ``If you owe the state money, you need to pay your bill.''
This month's list includes the names and addresses of hundreds of taxpayers and businesses that owe the state money - a combined $20 million worth of tax. About $2.8 million is past due from Triad-area residents.
...
Tolson said that's the point when many taxpayers send a check, rather than face public embarrassment.
But for hundreds of others - including Ricky Brooks at Ahoskie, the state's biggest debtor at $376,736.67 - the shame of reading their name on the dreaded Tax Debtors List just isn't enough.
Like Brooks, Brown and Johnson have yet to pay up on undeclared income. Brown owes the state $216,048.60; Johnson owes 132,498.63."
...
Contact Margaret Moffett Banks at 373-7031 or mbanks@news-record.com
Copyright (c) 2003 Greensboro News & Record
Author: MARGARET MOFFETT BANKS Staff Writer
Section: TRIAD/STATE
Page: B1
Copyright (c) 2003 Greensboro News & Record"
Walter Johnson never paid his back taxes and he never paid back the people he cheated.
Please continue reading The Yvonne And Walter Johnson Saga: Part 11
