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]
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.
