Duluth man charged with impersonating a lawyer

Howard O. Kieffer never attended law school, a federal prosecutor says. But three attorneys testified Tuesday that they thought Kieffer was a lawyer because of his expertise in federal court matters and because they saw him at attorney training seminars.

Kieffer, 54, of Duluth, Minn., is charged with mail fraud and making false statements in impersonating a lawyer. Authorities say he worked on federal cases in at least 10 states, but North Dakota is the first state to prosecute him.

A dozen jurors from a pool of 28 were chosen Tuesday in the federal court trial of Kieffer. U.S. District Judge Patrick Conmy said he expects the trial to last about three days.

"This is not a complicated case - he falsely claimed he was an attorney," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hagler told the panel of seven men and five women during his opening statement. "He represented clients and took their money ... they were defrauded by this man because they thought he was an attorney."

Joshua S. Lowther, of Savannah, Ga., one of Kieffer's attorneys, asked that the jury weigh all the testimony.

"All I ask is that you wait to make up your minds," Lowther told the jury, whose members ranged from retired school teachers to a zookeeper.

Bismarck attorney Chad McCabe testified that he met Kieffer in Phoenix two years ago at a seminar for attorneys who defend clients in federal court.

"The presumption was he was an attorney," McCabe said. "He promoted himself as a knowledgeable professional about federal law."

McCabe said Kieffer, who was living in California at the time, told him he was moving to Minnesota and asked that McCabe vouch for him on his application to practice law in North Dakota.

"I was happy to do that," McCabe said. "I was just doing it out of the goodness of my heart."

Attorney Rick Mattox of Prior Lake, Minn., vouched for Kieffer on his Minnesota application, on which Kieffer claimed he was in good standing in North Dakota.

Mattox said he met Kieffer at seminars in California in 2005 and 2006. He said Kieffer described himself at an "expert in federal sentencing matters."

Said Mattox: "He was more knowledgeable than myself on federal sentencing guidelines."

Steve Bergeson, an attorney from Eden Prairie, Minn., said he also met Kieffer at a seminar in 2005, and assumed Kieffer was an attorney.

"Nobody goes to these things unless you're an attorney or a judge," Bergeson said.

Bergeson said he got help from Kieffer in crafting an appeal of a client's federal sentences.

"It was good," Bergeson said.

Hagler, the federal prosecutor, said no one checked Kieffer's credentials.

"They thought he was a lawyer and they trusted him," Hagler said. "A lot of people made that mistake."

Kieffer was charged last year after one of his clients, a man accused of child pornography, wrote to U.S. District Judge Dan Hovland in Bismarck, raising questions about whether Kieffer had ever been a licensed attorney. Conmy said Hovland is expected to testify in the trial.

Kieffer faces up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine if convicted.

Court records show Kieffer was convicted earlier of theft and filing false tax returns and served time in a federal prison from 1989 to 1992.

His attorneys have filed a motion to bar federal prosecutors from bringing up the convictions during his new trial, saying they happened more than a decade ago.

Conmy responded that he is "not inclined to allow the government to present any evidence" about Kieffer's criminal history. But the judge reserved the right to reverse his ruling "if necessary to give the jury a more comprehensive view of the trustworthiness of the defendant as a witness."

Authorities said Kieffer lied on his application to practice law in federal court and worked on federal cases in at least 10 states. His clients include a former St. Louis Blues hockey player who pleaded guilty to plotting to kill his agent and a Colorado woman who was convicted of soliciting the killing of her former husband.

Kieffer also led an Internet discussion group on federal prison issues and appeared at seminars throughout the U.S. to speak about federal sentencing, authorities said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)