On almost any morning, attorney John A. Garcia could be seen hustling from courtroom to courtroom at the Palm Beach County, Fla., courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach, juggling a heavy caseload.
Tanned, talkative, impeccably dressed, sporting an earring and slicked-back hair, Garcia was the epitome of the South Florida criminal defense attorney.
Along with a handful of other West Palm Beach lawyers, Garcia mostly defended people facing serious drug charges. He was on the short list of attorneys who would take court-appointed cases in federal court. Garcia was well liked by prosecutors, judges and other defense lawyers.
Now Garcia likely will be joining some of his former clients behind bars on charges of illegally structuring transactions and giving false statements to the Drug Enforcement Administration.