Facing jury selection in nine days, former real estate investment promoter Rick Koerber was given a choice by a federal judge — keep his publicly paid attorney or go with his former attorney who had gotten previous fraud charges tossed out of court.
Koerber, at a hastily convened hearing Friday, chose his former attorney Marcus Mumford to represent him at a trial slated to begin Aug. 21 on 18 charges of securities and wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. Koerber has pleaded not guilty.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Warner told Koerber that he had to choose between Rebecca Skordas as his court-appointed attorney or going with Mumford, who is representing Koerber without charge and who signed onto the defense team just last week.