Attorney Lori Deveny to Change Plea in Federal Criminal Case

Trial was set to begin on Tuesday

On Friday, Mark Ahlemeyer, the federal public defender assigned to represent disgraced former Portland, Oregon attorney Lori Deveny, filed an unopposed motion to waive “her right to a speedy trial,” and asked the court to “set a change of plea hearing for June 22, 2022.”

The move comes after Ahlemeyer was warned last December by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman that “no more continuances would be allowed” in the case. Prior to that, Ahlemeyer had asked for seven delays since Deveny’s arraignment on May 13, 2019.

Deveny, who was a well-connected attorney and former president of the influential Oregon Women Lawyers specialty bar association, is accused of multiple counts of mail, wire, and bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and tax evasion during her decades-long career. Deveny allegedly defrauded several of her vulnerable personal injury clients by settling their cases without their knowledge and forging their signatures in order to steal their settlement money.

Deveny remains free without bail and was recently released from any federal restrictions, including limitations on travel, financial transactions, and gun sales.

Deveny still faces 92 criminal counts in Multnomah County, where the state’s case has proceeded erratically and often secretly. A plea deal in that case apparently fell apart last October.

While exact figures or a full list of victims are not yet public, the amount that Deveny is believed to have stolen from her clients — from as far back as the late 90's — is estimated to be greater than $3.5 million.

Updates on the story when more information becomes available:

Judge Michael Mosman granted Ahlemeyer’s motion and set a Change of Plea Hearing for June 22, at 11 a.m.