Manuel Angel Gonzalez Malpractice, Misleading, Theft, unprofessional San Diego California
I hired Manuel Angel Gonzalez while incarcerated in immigration. While he was visiting one of his clients I decided to ask if he could help me. He asked me to explain the details of my case When I did, He assured me he could help me. He left his information with me and assured me that for a fee of 5000 dollars he could stop my deportation by taking me back to court to re-open my case since at the time of my sentencing I was not advised the consequences of my guilty plea.
My brother William Sevilla contacted him asked if indeed he could stop my deportation. Manuel also assured my brother he could and put an urgency on a deposit of 5000. My brother asked for an invoice of those 5000 that he never provided. I was only visited once by him after that he never answered my calls.
The very day my deportation came I called him and he said not to worry that he was on his way. I asked him in case anything happened if he could deposit 300 dollars on my account. He said yes and to have my brother deposit the 300 before he made it to the jail. Manuel never made it to the jail. I refused to leave for a week. The jail had to force me out with restraints.
I landed in Honduras with no money and no clue of what to do. I was raised in the U.S since the age of one. Once I got through that horrific moment I began to call him but he never answered. Finally, I emailed him and he responded as if he was to busy for me. I have all his emails to this day. Manuel basically took 5,300 dollars in total with no intentions of ever helping. I don't know what could be done to regain that money but I could use that money for a real Lawyer to review my case.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Michael
Dallas,United States
I'm Sorry This Has Happened To You. Sounds Like The Attorney Took Advantage of You and Exploited You. File A Complaint With the State Bar Of California And File A Claim With The Client Security Fund
#2Consumer Suggestion
Sat, August 25, 2018
I'm not surprised at how the Attorney took advantage of you and stole from you. I too have had money stolen from me by an Attorney in Texas. Not every Attorney is a lying theif but many are. Sad To Say. You Take a gamble even dealing with them because they sometimes will victimize you even further.
What you should do is google - 'How To File A Complaint Against An Attorney - State Bar of California' and it will walk you through the steps to file your complaint against this lawyer. The complaint will open up the investigation process.
Also, every U.S. State has something called the Client Security Fund which is put in place by the State Bar Offices to reimburse people who have had their money stolen or taken improperly by lawyers. California has one and it can be found online by googling 'Client Security Fund State Bar of California'. You can call them as well. They will tell you how to submit a claim for your loss funds to be returned.
Your immigration status won't matter. They will simply investigate your complaint on it's face which is Client Theft. That is what it is called when an Attorney steals from a client or takes the money and does no work.
Last, it may be worth filing a criminal complaint with the local sheriff's office or police department against the Attorney. You can have one of your relatives do this back in the states. But they only work with cases of pure theft and it sounds as if this is what you have going on. That the Attorney stole your money.
I wish you well. Not sure how you paid this Attorney (hope it wasn't in cash) but the State Bar investigatory panel can retrieve the Attorney's bank statements. So can the sheriff and police department. If the Attorney pocketed your money like this he is beneath the dirt on the ground. Nothing but pure scum.
Thanks for reporting him online to let the world know what he has done.