Lawyer facing 22 federal charges

A Wise County attorney has a June trial date on charges that he regularly used and shared illegal drugs with former clients and asked them to lie about it under oath.

R. Stuart Collins of Wise is accused of snorting cocaine with one former client at a conference room table in his law office, according to an account recited by an FBI agent in court records.

The case against Collins apparently has drawn in a local court reporter who is accused of knowingly recording false testimony by former clients of an unnamed attorney under investigation for drug use.

Ernest J. Benko, a Norton court reporter, was charged Feb. 25 with four counts of making false statements and causing others to make false statements. Court documents appear to link both Collins and Benko to the same incidents involving the same two witnesses.

The federal government filed a criminal complaint against Collins, 41, in August charging him with distributing the narcotic Percocet and the stimulant Ritalin to a 19-year-old man in 2009.

Collins and the teen snorted the drugs together at Collins’ home, according to statements cited in an affidavit from an FBI agent.

Collins had a “drug relationship” with a former traffic offense client and twice snorted cocaine with another former client in 2008, the FBI affidavit said. Collins supplied the cocaine, according to the account, and the second use was in his law office conference room.

“Several other individuals, including clients of Collins, have reported engaging in drug activity with COLLINS,” the agent’s affidavit stated.

Collins told the agent in a 2008 interview that he was fighting an addiction to opiates and benzodiazepines, according to the affidavit.

Collins was arrested Aug. 22 and released on bond. A federal magistrate judge last month denied Collins’ request to be allowed to have copies of discovery material provided to his attorney.

A 22-count second superseding indictment was filed Feb. 25 charging Collins with distributing various drugs to four unnamed people. Other counts accuse Collins of obtaining drugs by “misrepresentation, fraud and subterfuge.” The government claims Collins caused two former clients to make false statements denying wrongdoing on his part.

Collins’ trial is set for June 17 through June 28 in Big Stone Gap. Trial for Benko is scheduled to start May 7 in Abingdon.

An early public sign of trouble for Collins came in 2010 when the Virginia State Bar suspended his law license without explanation. “Under the rules of court, there are certain matters that are confidential,” said Bar Counsel Edward L. Davis at the time. The VSB disciplinary board lifted the suspension six months later, on June 21, 2010, again without explanation.

Collins was the subject of a VSB investigation into possible witness bribing in 2010, according to information disclosed in a disciplinary board hearing that year. He told the board he had not practiced law since January of 2010 because he was under federal investigation for possible drug-related activity.

The bribery allegations concerned payment of restitution to a victim as part of the resolution of a client’s criminal charges. “In Wise County, restitution is kind of a way of life,” Collins said at the hearing on Dec. 10, 2010.

Collins’ law license remains active and in good standing, according to VSB online records which show no public discipline actions against him.

Details of the Collins and Benko indictments match up to indicate a connection.

Benko’s indictment states that Benko was hired by “Attorney #1” to record sworn statements by two witnesses falsely representing that “Attorney #1” had no involvement in anything that was illegal or unethical. “Attorney #1” was indicted on Sept. 11, 2012, according to the Benko indictment. Collins was first indicted on Sept. 11, 2012.

The indictments against Collins and Benko both refer to their dealings on identical dates in 2009 with witnesses identified as “NP” and “TF.” The government plans to use a witness named Nicholas Pinkard in Collins’ case. Pinkard is currently in the Henry County jail for burglary.

Asked about the connection, a spokesperson for the Western District U.S. attorney’s office said he was not permitted to identify any of the unnamed individuals listed in the indictments. The spokesperson declined further comment because the cases are still at the indictment stage.

Calls for comment to Collins and his attorney, David L. Scyphers of Abingdon, were not returned by press time. Federal public defender Larry Shelton confirmed that his office was representing Benko, but he declined further comment.