It’s a sad thing to see a local attorney who I’ve always had a great deal of respect for go down the rabbit hole like Gary has. It looks like Gary was a sucker for the siren song of money. Easy… fast… cold, hard cash. The government can’t trace cash, right? WRONG. The Feds always find out when you’re avoiding taxes and laundering money. Such is the sad case of Attorney Gary Prohlman.
Attorney Prohlman entered into a “business relationship” with an unsavory character by the name of David Jones. Unfortunately for Mr. Prohlman, David Jones was under investigation for trafficking in marijuana. A LOT of marijuana. Gary thought Mr. Jones had a music and clothing business and offered Mr. Jones a piece of his sports agency business as well as a buy in for the building he wanted to purchase in Saco. This type of activity constituted money laundering because the proceeds of drug trafficking were being shoved back into legitimate business interests. This behavior led to Gary running afoul of the law.
According to court documents, Attorney Prohlman’s drug dealing client would have his minions drop off backpacks filled with cash to Gary’s office. Apparently, Gary thought the cash constituted proceeds from a legitimate business. Gary was wrong and should have known better. Legitimate business men don’t have their minions drop off backpacks filled with cash. They make wire transfers. They write checks. They don’t show up with a sack of 20s.
Gary really shot himself in the foot when he attempted to deposit the ill-gotten gains at his local bank. According to an IRS Agent’s affidavit, Attorney Prohlman tried to deposit a large amount of cash at the bank and was informed that he had to fill out an IRS cash declaration form since it was a deposit of more than $10,000.00. Gary’s response was “the government doesn’t need to know about my money”. He then took the $ back and walked out. He came back at a later point and made a number of smaller transactions in the hopes of defeating the IRS reporting requirement. That was another huge mistake.
So, today, Gary and his attorney appeared before Judge Singal of the US Federal Distrcict Court in Portland and pled guilty to money laundering. He admitted that $177,500.00 would be forfeit and that he wouldn’t appeal a sentence that was for less than 46 months. While Mr. Prohlman faces a sentence of up to 20 years and a fine of up to $500,000.00, it is unlikely that he will see a sentence anywhere near that range.
But for Gary, his problems don’t end with the sentence. That’s just the beginning. Mr. Prohlman will likely face disbarment and give up his license to practice law. His sports agency business, GMP Sports will likely fold as his NHL clients will seek new agents to represent his interests. He’ll also likely lose his NHLPA Agent license as a result of a conviction.
Gary will have to somehow rebuild his life when he finally finishes his prison sentence. Sadly, it will be a second career and one that will be severely hampered with his felony conviction history. Gary made some very bad choices. That’s obvious. And sadly, he threw away so much of his future for a measly $177,500.00. He’s lost his business, his law practice, his self-respect and the respect of his peers. I have no doubt that this has taken an awful toll on his personal life as well.
I truly wish Gary the best. He was always a great guy to sit-down and chat with about hockey. He was plugged into the local hockey scene and he did a LOT of charity work by leveraging his hockey ties in the community. He was a guy with a great sense of humor and he was a skilled attorney. I truly believe that he’s a good person who made some very bad choices. And I hope that he can bounce back from this and find a future in a different profession. Because his legal career is over.
