Strange

Alleged Fake Lawyer of Former NHLer Set to Stand Trial

by Jon Azpiri | September 16, 2008 at 10:43 am

596 views | 4 Recommendations | 5 comments

A man accused of impersonating a lawyer has made an appearance in a North Dakota courtroom. Howard Keiffer pleaded not guilty to felony charges that include mail fraud and impersonating a lawyer in at least 10 states. Keiffer was registered to practice law in North Dakota, but allegedly tried to practice in other federal jurisdictions.

One of those cases involved former NHL player Mike Danton.

Kieffer's clients have included Danton, a former St. Louis Blues player who pleaded guilty to plotting to kill his agent, David Frost, in July 2004.

Danton is serving a 7 1/2-year sentence at a minimum-security federal prison in Sandstone, Minn.

In addition to federal courts, Kieffer also allegedly fooled several colleagues and even media outlets.

Kieffer runs an Internet discussion group on federal prison issues and has been quoted in the Washington Post, Slate.com and other publications as an expert. The Association of Federal Defense Attorneys once offered an audio question-and-answer session with Kieffer as an opportunity for lawyers to earn required credits in legal education.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | Digg | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

cassy82

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:47 on September 16th, 2008

Jon Azpiri, I like this story. It's good stuff.

yuls.source

at 11:03 on September 16th, 2008

With legal knowledge that advanced, it would be easier for him to get an actual license.

chowdawg

at 11:49 on September 16th, 2008

No doubt Kieffer will now be able to have a more insider perspective for that Internet discussion group on federal prison issues he runs.

God Rules (not verified)

at 19:38 on September 18th, 2008

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Watch him skate on all of the fraud he did last 20 years. Since he isnot an attorney there is no lawyer client priviledge. The Feds are already making deals.

O. Stepp (not verified)

at 18:37 on January 16th, 2009

Howard Keiffer charged me $2000.00 to look at my brothers case to file a 2255 for him. in Federal Court. He promised to set up a call in the prison he is in for a private conversation with my brother. He said he would look at the documents in the case. I sent him a check the first part of Dec. 2008. He called me and left a message that he couldn't take his case. He gave two different lawyers names that I could call. Then he said he would refund the money. I have called him every day and even sent him an email. It is the middle of January 2009 and I have yet to hear from him. He used to almost always answer his phone. The email address for him was www.boplaw.com and it's not the same web site as before. I then ran upon some news articles on the web about him being in trouble because he represented people and didn't even have a license. He may be smartenough to give advice on being in prison, since he's been there himself, The information I first read was that he was a lawyer. I don't know what to do next because he has ripped me off in the amount of $2000.00! In this day and time who can afford to lose that. I'm a divorced 56 year old who is on a set income because I am disabled. Is there anybody who can suggest some kind of action that I should take to get my money back?