Guilty Plea: ‘I don’t comment on cases he personally handles’ – Hushpuppi’s lawyer, Louis Shapiro, tells Neusroom
Louis Shapiro, the Attorney representing alleged internet fraudster Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas in the United States, has told Neusroom that he cannot comment on cases Hushpuppi personally handled when asked why the suspect chose to enter a plea agreement with the United States Department of Justice.
Shapiro started representing Hushpuppi in February 2021 after the court in Los Angeles granted the request of his former lawyers Gal Pissetzky and Vicki Podberesky to withdraw from his case.
Gal Pissetzky did not respond to Neusroom’s request for comment on why he withdrew from the case.
Hushpuppi entered into a plea agreement with the DoJ in April 2021 and may get a lesser sentence for his alleged crime from the statutory maximum sentence of 20 years.
Louis Shapiro who signed the plea agreement as Hushpuppi’s attorney told Neusroom in an email “I’m sorry I don’t comment on cases that he personally handles.”
Shapiro’s response suggests that he didn’t suggest the guilty plea which is believed to have been initiated by Hushpuppi himself.
In February 2021, Neusroom predicted that Hushpuppi may agree to plead guilty following the overwhelming evidence against him, after Ghaleb Alaumary, his Canadian-American co-conspirator, who’s described as a prolific money launderer for hackers pleaded guilty to the charge.
