Anthony Pacheco
Shareholder
1925 Century Park East Suite 1900 Los Angeles, California 90067
- apacheco@vedderprice.com
- VCard
Anthony Pacheco
Shareholder
Anthony Pacheco is a Litigation Shareholder in the firm’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Chambers USA-ranked Government Investigations & White Collar Defense group, focusing on white collar criminal defense, internal investigations and complex business litigation, including civil and criminal trials.
Mr. Pacheco has substantial experience with health care fraud and abuse, False Claims Act, Stark and anti-kickback laws, HIPAA, data privacy and cybersecurity, whistleblower claims, securities and financial fraud, insider trading, campaign finance, environmental crimes, tax, antitrust, defense contractor fraud, elder abuse, bank fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, extortion, consumer protection, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, executive/employee misconduct, extradition, #metoo, and wire and mail fraud.
Mr. Pacheco’s clients include public and private companies, medical centers, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, laboratories, software companies, brokerages, financial institutions, municipalities, universities, studios, post-production companies, high-level executives, doctors, lawyers, accountants and nonprofit entities. He has handled over 100 internal investigations and has managed sensitive public relations issues dealing with federal and state criminal, quasi-criminal, civil, regulatory, administrative and parallel proceedings.
Mr. Pacheco is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Mr. Pacheco participated in all aspects of federal criminal investigation and prosecution, particularly regarding grand jury proceedings, federal trial practice, intercepted wire communications, and the international investigation and prosecution of criminal organizations.
Mr. Pacheco is a former President of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners. His responsibilities included oversight of all aspects of the Department including its $1.3 billion budget, officer-involved shootings, and in-custody deaths. He spoke extensively in the media and to community groups on issues concerning policing in Los Angeles.
In 2021, 2022 and 2023, Mr. Pacheco was ranked in Chambers USA as one of the top lawyers in California in the White Collar Crimes & Investigations category. He has also been consistently identified by his peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America in the field of White-Collar Criminal Defense each year since 2009, and as a Southern California Super Lawyer since 2007. In 2021, the U.S. News & World Report – Best Law Firms recognized Vedder Price as one of the Best Law Firms in Los Angeles for White Collar Criminal Defense. Additionally, Mr. Pacheco was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s ‘Leaders of Influence: Litigators and Trial Lawyers’ list in 2021 and 2022, and was also recognized by the publication as a Top Minority Attorney in 2020 and 2023.
Mr. Pacheco is pro bono counsel to Public Counsel’s Center for Veterans’ Advancement where he coordinates and handles upgrade discharge requests, so that veterans can get services and recognition that they deserve. Thanks to Mr. Pacheco’s efforts, Vedder Price received the Center for Veterans’ Advancement’s 2020 Pro Bono Award honoring the firm’s outstanding support of the discharge upgrade clinic.
Anthony Pacheco
Shareholder
Education
- University of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1986
- Princeton University, B.A., 1983, with distinction, American Studies Program
Anthony Pacheco
Shareholder
Bar Admissions
- California, 1987
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1994
- U.S. Tax Court, 2018
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1989
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, 1989
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1989
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 1989
Affiliations
- Member, Hispanic National Bar Association
- Pro bono counsel, Center for Veterans Advancement, Public Counsel
- Member, Chancery Club of Los Angeles
- Member, Mexican American Bar Association
- Member, Princeton Club of Southern California
- Lead Pro Bono Counsel, TransLatina Coalition
- Member, The Alumni Society
Anthony Pacheco
Shareholder
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Publications
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January 12, 2022 | Article
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October 15, 2021 | Newsletter/Bulletin
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October 12, 2020 | Newsletter/Bulletin
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September 18, 2019 | Article
Anthony Pacheco
Shareholder
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News
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August 17, 2023 | Press Release
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June 1, 2023 | Press Release
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March 17, 2023 | Press Release
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February 2, 2023 | Press Release
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January 23, 2023 | Press Release
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August 26, 2022 | Media Appearance
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August 18, 2022 | Press Release
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July 19, 2022 | Press Release
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June 1, 2022 | Press Release
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May 12, 2022 | Press Release
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August 19, 2021 | Press Release
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July 13, 2021 | Press Release
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May 21, 2021 | Press Release
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November 2, 2020 | Press Release
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August 21, 2020 | Press Release
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August 17, 2020 | Press Release
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May 14, 2020 | Press Release
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January 29, 2020 | Press Release
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January 29, 2020 | Press Release
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June 3, 2019 | Press Release
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Past Events
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Wednesday, May 15, 2021 | Webinar
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May 6, 2021 | Webinar
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Anthony Pacheco
Shareholder
Experience
*includes Mr. Pacheco’s experience while at previous organizations
- Lead counsel for high-level executive in a federal criminal prosecution of a major regional hospital regarding hundreds of agreements (options, leases, physician management agreements and outsource collection agreements) used to facilitate improper payments to physicians and to other health care providers in exchange for patient referrals. This was one of the largest criminal health care cases in the Western region of the United States. The case was resolved such that the executive did not serve a single day of incarceration, despite initial criminal exposure of over 20 years.
- Represented executive in a substantial securities fraud prosecution involving a publicly traded company and allegations of misstatements about inventory used to inflate the company’s financial performance. Resolved case on favorable terms, despite significant criminal exposure.
- Served as coordinating counsel in a complex health care litigation involving multiple state and federal proceedings. The cases ran the gamut from receivership issues to bankruptcy proceedings, to applications for collateral relief, and to appellate proceedings. All of them involved a wide variety of health care, long-term care, corporate, regulatory and other matters, as well as several judgments collectively exceeding $1 billion.
- Served as lead counsel to a system of acute care hospitals in a substantial False Claims Act case by the United States Department of Justice and the California Attorney General’s Office. Coordinated with various counsel for the many different owners and executives of the system. The matter involved allegations by a whistleblower of Stark and anti-kickback violations based upon physician directorships. The case resolved on favorable terms.
- Successfully counseled private equity companies, regional real estate developers, nonprofit schools, universities, and a global religious organization in various unrelated and highly sensitive media crisis matters spanning a number of difficult and highly visible challenges to the standing of these respective entities’ in the community.
- Represented a large health care system regarding investigations by federal, state and county prosecutors and other regulators concerning a host of legal and regulatory matters ranging from coding issues to directorships to fraud allegations and to the corporate practice of medicine.
- Represented large skilled nursing facility in criminal investigation involving elder abuse allegations, where presentation to State Attorney General resulted in a declination of prosecution and no administrative actions.
- Represented an executive/owner of a defense contractor charged in a federal illegal campaign finance prosecution. Resolved case without imposition of a term of incarceration, despite significant criminal exposure.
- Counseled executives in computer fraud and abuse, corporate espionage, and theft of trade secrets investigations, including illegal recordings, extortion, and other misconduct allegations.
- Represented a nonprofit community health center in a comprehensive internal investigation regarding potentially improper referrals, billing practices and employee misconduct, and other alleged regulatory concerns.
- Handled numerous investigations and complaints by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights. Certain complaints against a health care facility and doctors involved the alleged discriminatory treatment of a transgender person, and a separate matter involved potential HIPAA and privacy violations. DHHS has not pursued the matters following the group’s investigations and submissions.
- Represented doctors and medical staff accused of misconduct in criminal and regulatory investigations.
- Counseled Chief Medical Officer of regional hospital system in complex civil litigation between national health care systems.
- Conducted internal investigations of patient death cases (criminal and civil investigations) in skilled nursing facilities, of elder abuse cases (physical and financial) in a variety of different health care organizations, and of executive/employee misconduct in academic medical centers and other health care organizations.
- Served as counsel to a pool of sales executives at a large pharmaceutical company in a wide-ranging investigation by United States Attorneys Offices (criminal and civil) in numerous federal districts, and by various State Attorneys General Offices, regarding the sale of opioid products.
Recently Reported Decisions
- United States v. Ferguson, 676 F.3d 260 (2nd Cir. 2011) (fraud convictions vacated where district court abused its discretion in admitting stock price data, and issuing a jury instruction directing verdict based upon causation).
- United States v. Nguyen, 81 F.3d 912 (9th Cir. 1996) (upholding convictions where credit cards possessed by defendant were “access devices” within meaning of the statute).