By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – A once politically-connected attorney will serve 46 months in prison for felony tax evasion and fraud.
A federal judge Thursday imposed the maximum allowable penalty on Charles Polk, the former general counsel of the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District.
Prosecutors say Polk pocketed more than $45,000 that a Michigan-based engineering firm intended to pay MSD. Polk's attorney Scott Rosenblum says he's confident his client will be successful again.
"Charles Polk is a man of enormous talent and enormous ambition," Rosenblum said. "And he will serve his time, and in a couple of years he will be a contributing member to society, to his family and to whatever profession he chooses, even if it's not the legal profession."
Polk will also pay more than 560-thousand dollars in restitution, and will attend an alcohol abuse treatment program.