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Houston attorney Steve Pursley, who's under indictment for federal tax evasion, won a trial continuance on Thursday because he swapped out his defense counsel after an email snafu led his former lawyer to allege that prosecutors tampered with a court record.

The trial was scheduled for Tuesday but will now occur in September to give Pursley's new attorneys time to prepare for trial. Pursley has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and three counts of tax evasion.

“We have great respect for the legal process and are confident the truth will come out during the trial,” according to an email by Barnes & Thornburg partner Victor Vital of Dallas, who now represents Pursley.

The government alleged in a September 2018 indictment in United States v. Pursley, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, that Pursley helped a co-conspirator bring more than $18 million of untaxed funds from offshore accounts into the United States between 2007 and 2013.

Shaun Mooney was Pursley's co-conspirator, according to government filings in the case. Separately, Pursley has sued Mooney, alleging a civil contract dispute.

“Shaun Mooney has admitted to cheating on his taxes. Instead of taking responsibility for his own actions, he blamed Mr. Pursley after Mr. Pursley filed a public lawsuit against Mr. Mooney in a Texas court,” Vital said.

Hughes Arrell Kinchen partner Michael Wynne, who represents Mooney, said any allegation that Mooney cheated on his taxes is something for the government to pursue or not to pursue.

“I”m not going to comment,” Wynne said. “The facts will come out during the course of the trial.”

The government alleged that Pursley represented Mooney, who was a college friend, between 2006 and 2013. Mooney owned a company, Southeastern Shipping Company Ltd., which staffed offshore oil rigs in the Middle East. The alleged scheme was complicated, involving a series of shell companies and bank accounts. Essentially, the pair would transfer funds from the foreign company's bank account to Pursley and Mooney's companies' U.S. bank accounts in different ways, like false stock purchases, and the false sale of Southeastern Shipping.

The government alleged that for his role in the scheme, Pursley earned more than $4.8 million, plus an interest in Mooney's business, and then filed false income tax returns to avoid paying taxes, said the indictment.

Pursley argued in an October 2018 motion that he fully reported his income on his tax returns, and the government hadn't alleged any act against him that constitutes tax evasion.

Ron Braver, a certified public accountant who is an expert witness on Pursley's side, argued in a June 17 report that the government has made mistakes and some of the government's allegations of taxes owed by Pursley for stock purchases should have been assessed against Mooney and his company.

“Any reporting issues appear to be no more than mistakes or accidents or errors, including those of or attributable to Pursley's tax preparers and bookkeepers,” said the report. “Pursley paid taxes after learning of the potential or possible mistakes.”

Email Snafu and Sanctions Request

The government and Parsley have clashed over the government's deposition of a witness who was a compliance officer for a financial company who allegedly had knowledge about the defendant's tax scheme.

Pursley alleged in a June 6 motion for sanctions that the government tampered with the deposition transcript by telling a court reporter to make changes in the transcript without telling defense counsel or the court.

The government countered that the allegations were baseless, claiming that the transcription service emailed defense counsel on May 8 with a copy of the revised transcript.

Pursley clarified his motion for sanctions on June 10 and explained that Pursley's attorney, Ashley Arnett, checked her spam folder and located the May 8 email with the revised transcript.

The very next day, Pursley noted in a filing that his relationship with Arnett and another of his attorneys, Michael Minns, had deteriorated. He asked for a continuance of his June 18 trial to allow his new lead attorney, Vital, to ensure an orderly transition for the trial, the motion said.

U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman Ali Kjergaard declined to comment on the case.