Lawyer Indicted in Hiding of Drug Money

A lawyer with offices in Prince George's County and the District was arrested yesterday after a federal grand jury in Maryland accused him of helping to hide tens of thousands of dollars that had belonged to a slain drug dealer.

Walter L. Blair, 57, whose legal practice has included high-profile lawsuits against local police departments, faces accusations that could end his career and send him to prison. An indictment unsealed yesterday accuses him of money laundering, obstruction of justice and other counts.

According to the charging document, a distant relative of the drug dealer's approached Blair in November 2003 after the dealer disappeared and the dealer's girlfriend was shot to death; the dealer and his girlfriend's son were later found fatally shot, too.

The dealer, who sold marijuana in the Richmond area, had asked the relative to keep a safe in which he had stored cash, the indictment says. Unsure about what to do with the money after the dealer's disappearance, the relative turned to Blair, the indictment says. It does not identify the relative, a Germantown resident, or say how she knew Blair.

Blair is alleged to have hatched a scheme to conceal the origins of the money. He told the relative to bring the money to him at his office in College Park, the indictment says. The relative arrived with a duffel bag full of bills split into stacks wrapped in rubber bands, it says.

Blair told her to use the money to buy real estate and pay lawyers, including Blair, to represent the slain dealer's associates, according to the indictment.

Arrested yesterday at his home in Brookeville in Montgomery County, Blair appeared later in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, where he said he will represent himself.

Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day released Blair but ordered him to surrender his passport. Day also ordered that Blair disclose the charges to any criminal defendants and not meet with witnesses in the case without another lawyer present.

Blair did not respond to a message left with a colleague and could not be reached at his home.

Under state rules, Blair must report the charges the Maryland Bar Counsel. But any action against him by the disciplinary body would await the outcome of the criminal case.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.