Some local defense attorneys and their client recently learned what it's like to be on the receiving end of an irate federal judge whose order not to sell a big warehouse was violated.

"It is shocking to me," U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn said about the incident. "I entered an order that this not be done, clear as a bell, and it was done."

The result was a rare criminal contempt conviction for the defendant, Melek Portillo, who has admitted to selling bootleg Latin music CDs.

Lynn appointed a special prosecutor in late 2016 and recused herself from the case. Portillo was sentenced Thursday by a different judge, U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle, to two years of probation and a $5,000 fine for the contempt charge.

It stems from Portillo's sale of a Dallas warehouse in 2016 despite Lynn's order not to dispose of any assets before sentencing. Portillo had faced up to six months behind bars.

"It has been a long time since I've had to express this degree of anger from the bench," Lynn said during the October 2016 hearing. "I am furious that this occurred."

Portillo will next be sentenced by Lynn for the underlying copyright infringement offense, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors in that case have agreed to five years of probation, which will run consecutive to the probation in the contempt case.

Melek Portillo (Linkedin)

Portillo, 54, lives in Arizona. Her former business, Angelica's Record Distributors, had operations in Dallas as well as Chicago and Phoenix, authorities say. The company bought counterfeit CDs from September 2010 to April 2011 from a California company, court records show.

Prosecutors say Portillo sold the warehouse on North Cockrell Hill Road for $1.4 million in 2016 and transferred some of the proceeds to her son's personal bank accounts in an apparent effort to avoid a hefty fine that Lynn was contemplating.

The record distribution company faces a maximum fine of $1.5 million, according to prosecutors. As a result, the government in September obtained an order freezing $1.1 million from Portillo's son's accounts, court records show.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn is chief judge of the Northern District of Texas

The warehouse was one of Portillo's "only significant assets at the time," the special prosecutor, Michael Uhl, said in a court filing.

"No reasonable person would have siphoned out the vast majority of the warehouse proceeds to various other accounts controlled by one of their children," Uhl said in a filing last year.

Richard Roper, a former U.S. attorney in Dallas, said contempt charges happen "infrequently" and usually result in a fine and probation. If it involves a lawyer, he could face discipline, Roper said. But clients sometimes do things without telling their lawyers, he added.

"It puts the lawyer in a difficult position," Roper said.

One of the most notable contempt cases occurred last year when Joe Arpaio, a controversial former sheriff in Arizona, was convicted of the misdemeanor offense for violating a federal judge's order in 2011. Arpaio continued to detain immigrants simply because they lacked legal status, in violation of the order. President Donald Trump pardoned the former sheriff last year.

Judges who initiate contempt proceedings have to consider not just themselves but the position they hold, Roper said.

"They have to uphold the dignity of the court," he said. "If you have people not following the rules, the whole system breaks down."

Apology not accepted

Lynn did not reserve her anger for Portillo. She also scolded the two defense attorneys for not telling her that their client violated her order when they learned about it.

The attorneys, Danny Clancy and Jay Ethington, are experienced and well-respected in Dallas. Ethington is a former federal prosecutor. Clancy ran unsuccessfully for Dallas County district attorney against Craig Watkins in 2010.

"I am astonished that lawyers of the quality of you two would just sort of apologize. Not accepted, OK?" Lynn said during the October 2016 hearing.

She warned them that if the evidence showed that they knew about the sale ahead of time, "woe be to you."

Lynn grew more frustrated and angry the more the attorneys tried to explain their client's actions. Among the explanations was that the sale happened so Portillo would have the cash to pay what she owed in the case.

"I'm not the ethics police, but if I were in your shoes, I would quit," Lynn said.

"It's ridiculous, Mr. Clancy, ridiculous. And I am embarrassed for you, that you are in this position, embarrassed ... it's a shameful episode. And I'm not done with it."

In a previous hearing in February 2016, Ethington had told Lynn that his client understood her order not to sell any assets before sentencing. "I'll stress that to her," he said.

Lynn issued the order on that date because the extent of Portillo's assets was unclear at the time and Lynn was contemplating a fine of up to $1.1 million against the company, according to court records.

Portillo and her company had already agreed to pay $500,000 for restitution and a forfeiture in the case, records show.

Ethington said he learned about the June 2016 warehouse sale a little more than three weeks after it happened.

"OK. If you haven't looked at a calendar lately, it's October. Did anyone bother advising the court that the court order had been violated?" Lynn asked. "Did you think that maybe you should tell me that?"

"I realize now, yes," Ethington said.

"Well, I don't know why I have to give you a little schooling on that, Mr. Ethington," Lynn said.

Spirit of the order?

Lynn said that when lawyers like Clancy and Ethington tell her something, "I take it to the bank, because I know you two."

"On what planet would it be appropriate to let July, August, September and October go by without telling me that my order was violated?" Lynn asked the attorneys.

"I think the spirit of what you said was being complied with," Ethington said.

"I said she can't sell the warehouse without a court order. There was no spirit about it," Lynn said. "Now, where is this ambiguity coming from? A dream? It's not there, Mr. Ethington, seriously. I mean, your credibility is really on the line at the moment."

Angelica's Record Distributors in Dallas (CoStar Group)

Lynn also wondered why the prosecutor, Aisha Saleem, didn't file a motion for contempt when she learned of the sale.

"Did you think this was just going to be OK, I wasn't going to care?"

Saleem said she discussed it with her supervisors, who told her to bring it to Lynn's attention at sentencing.

Lynn asked Portillo what she was thinking.

"I ask for your forgiveness for understanding it wrong," Portillo said.

"No, I don't understand it and I'm not forgiving you," Lynn said. "I'm not in the forgiveness business."