Warren Ballentine

Last updated
Warren Ballentine
Born (1973-05-13) May 13, 1973 (age 51)
Chicago, Illinois
Career
ShowThe Warren Ballentine Show
Country United States

Warren Ballentine (born May 13, 1973) is an American motivational speaker, attorney, political activist, and radio talk show host.

Contents

Biography

Early years

Ballentine was born and raised on Chicago's South Side, where he attended and graduated from Lindblom High School in 1992. He is an alumnus of Chicago State University in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from law school at Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law in Ada, Ohio. Ballentine joined the Iota Nu Sigma Alumni chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

Attorney Years

Upon completion of law school, Ballentine worked as a prosecutor and as a guardian ad litem before going into private practice. He has tried a multitude of cases including: murder, discrimination, sexual assault, police brutality, drunk driving, drugs, gang violence, and domestic relations. [ citation needed ] He had been admitted to multiple state bars. In 2015, Ballentine was suspended in North Carolina due to his felony convictions. [1] He was disbarred in 2016. [2] On August 26, 2015, the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Committee, the agency that licenses Illinois lawyers, filed a complaint against Ballentine based on his federal fraud conviction. [3] In 2018, Ballentine was disbarred in Illinois. [4]

Radio career

"The Warren Ballentine Show" was syndicated in 137 media markets through Radio One, and was one of the highest-rated urban talk shows in the nation. [ citation needed ] The show had been covered numerous times by the media since it hit the airwaves. Radio One cancelled the show after Ballentine was indicted. [5] [6]

On his show he discussed ideas and issues targeted not just to the African-American audience, but to a wider audience as well. Ballentine had championed the call for action for the Jena 6 and called for the "National Economic Blackout". [7]

Ballentine was described by The New York Times as "one of black talk radio's new stars". [8] He led the Radio One (Company)|Radio ONE national voter registration campaign. Covering both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Conventions, as well as the Congressional Black Caucus; Ballentine's show had featured such high-profile guests as President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Al Sharpton, and Allen Gravitt. Additionally, Ballentine was a recurring guest and correspondent for CNN and Fox Business News.

Controversy

On Oct. 16, 2009, Ballentine, told Juan Williams "You can go back to the porch, Juan. You can go back. It's ok." [9] [10] [11]

Federal Criminal Conviction

On January 24, 2013, a federal grand jury in Illinois returned a six-count indictment against Ballentine, charging him with one count of fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1341; one count of mail and wire fraud, in violation 18 U.S.C. §1343; two counts of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1344; and two counts of making false statements to financial institutions, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1014. [12] Ballentine and his conspirators fraudulently caused lenders to make at least 28 loans totaling approximately $10 million. [12] Ballentine fought the charges and was represented by a legal team that included Harvard professor Charles Ogletree, who suffers from Alzheimer's. [13] His trial was delayed when one of his lawyers asked to be removed from the case because Ballentine was not cooperating with him. [13] On October 24, 2014, after a four-day trial, a jury found Ballentine guilty on every count. [12] They had deliberated only an hour. [13] On July 21, 2015, a federal judge sentenced the convicted Ballentine to one day in prison, time considered served, three years of supervised release, and payment of an assessment in the amount of $600.00, and restitution in the amount of $140,940.00. [12] On December 22, 2016, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Ballentine's appeal of his conviction as frivolous.

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References

  1. ↑ "THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BAR, Plaintiff v. WARREN BALLENTINE, Attorney, Defendant ORDER OF INTERIM SUSPENSION". North Carolina State Bar. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  2. ↑ "THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BAR, Plaintiff v. WARREN BALLENTINE, Attorney, Defendant ORDER OF DISCIPLINE". North Carolina State Bar. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  3. ↑ Mansur, Sarah. "ARDC board urges disbarment of radio's former 'People's Attorney'". Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  4. ↑ Bilyk, Jonathan. "IL Supreme Court disbars 10, suspends 16, including 'People's Attorney' radio host convicted of bank fraud". Cook County Record. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  5. ↑ "The Warren Ballentine Show Cancelled | Radio FactsRadio Facts | Your Online Information Station". www.radiofacts.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  6. ↑ "Why Did Reach Media and Radio One Drop Warren Ballentine So Quickly After His Indictment?". 23 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "Radio host rallies blacks for Friday boycott - CNN.com". cnn.com.
  8. ↑ "Black Radio on Obama Is Left's Answer to Limbaugh". The New York Times. 27 July 2008.
  9. ↑ "'Go Back to the Porch'". Fox News. 16 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  10. ↑ Kerry Picket (October 16, 2009). "[Audio Update 10/16] O'Reilly guest hurls racial slur at Juan Williams, brags on Twitter". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 6 July 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  11. ↑ AOL [ permanent dead link ]
  12. 1 2 3 4 "BEFORE THE HEARING BOARD". iardc.org.
  13. 1 2 3 Meisner, Jason (October 24, 2014). "Former radio host convicted of mortgage fraud". chicagotribune.com.
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