SAN FRANCISCO (Northern California Record) – Suspended El Dorado Hills attorney Donald Martin Wanland Jr. faces possible disbarment following a recently announced California State Bar Court recommendation over his 2013 conviction on tax-related charges.
Wanland made approximately $2.6 million between 2000 through 2007 "but paid almost nothing in federal or state income taxes," a 23-page decision and order of involuntary inactive enrollment issued Aug. 17 by the state bar court said. In September 2013, Sanland was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on 28 tax-related counts, including felony tax evasion of payment and concealment of property subject to a levy, according to the decision and order.
In March 2014, Wanland was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison followed by 36 months of supervised release for tax evasion and 10 months in federal prison on each of the 27 counts, all concurrent, according to the decision and order.
Wanland's two prior records of discipline and alleged failure to make restitution for his unpaid taxes were considered aggravating factors in the state bar court's recommendation that he be disbarred.
The state bar's recommendation is pending final action by the California Supreme Court, an appeal before the state bar's review department or expiration of time in which parties may request further review within the state bar court.
The state bar court's recommendation included an involuntary inactive enrollment order that rendered Wanland involuntarily enrolled as an inactive member of the State Bar of California. That order was effective three calendar days after service, according to the recommendation.
Wanland's recommended discipline was among the dispositions filed earlier this month by the state bar court's hearing department for August.
Wanland was admitted to the bar in California on Feb. 18, 1986, according to his profile at the state bar website.
In February 2014, Wanland was placed on interim suspension following felony tax evasion convictions, according to information on his state bar profile
In a previous discipline in April 2011, Wanland received a stayed 90-day suspension and was placed on a year of probation after a state bar court judge found the attorney had violated the terms of a 2002 probation. In the 2002 discipline, Wanland was placed on five years probation for violating a bankruptcy court order.