A D.C. man became a lawyer and Georgetown Law professor after serving more than a decade in federal prison for bank robbery. But he’s been convicted in a new case involving domestic violence against his wife, authorities said Friday.
Shon Hopwood, 50, was found guilty Friday on three counts of simple assault, five counts of contempt and two counts of obstructing justice, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“A D.C. jury is demanding accountability from the batterer who not only beat his wife but was on the faculty of Georgetown Law teaching criminal law,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said in the release. “This D.C. jury wasn’t afraid to demand accountability no matter who the defendant is.”
Georgetown Law professor forced wife to stay in basement for three days, then pressured to her not to testify, prosecutors say
Prosecutors say Hopwood assaulted his wife, leaving her with multiple injuries, and then forced her to stay in their basement for three days after the September 2023 attack. He coached their children to lie about her whereabouts, prosecutors said.
After police found his wife during a welfare check, they learned of “chronic emotional and physical domestic abuse to his wife stretching back several years,” prosecutors said. Due to that investigation, Hopwood also was charged with assaulting her in April 2023 in addition to the latter incident.
Although Hopwood’s trial was supposed to begin in early June, the victim and her daughter failed to appear in court despite a subpoena. Authorities say they learned Hopwood had pressured his wife not to testify in his trial, violating a stay-away order.
As a result, prosecutors say, they also charged Hopwood with five counts of contempt and two counts of obstruction of justice.
From prisoner to professor: Convicted bank robber hired at Georgetown Law
Before becoming an attorney and law professor, Hopwood spent 11 years in prison for robbing banks at gunpoint.
As he recounted to News4 in a 2017 interview with former News4 reporter Chris Gordon, Hopwood described himself as a college dropout living in a small town in Nebraska when he and a friend began robbing banks while armed.
He was caught by the FBI and pleaded guilty. While serving his sentence, he got a job in one facility’s law library, began writing briefs for fellow inmates and had an appeal go all the way to the Supreme Court — which shaved four years off a friend’s sentence.
After his release, Hopwood attended the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle, clerked for a federal judge and published a book: “Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases and Finding Redemption.”
He was hired as a full professor at Georgetown University Law Center in 2017 to teach about criminal procedure and prisoners’ rights, News4 reported. He said at the time that he wanted to educate students and the community about prison reform.
“I hope that my job here will inspire people that do not believe a second chance is possible,” he said at the time.
Hopwood will be sentenced in September in the domestic violence case.
A Georgetown Law spokesperson provided News4 the following statement: “Georgetown Law respects the judicial system and this jury’s decision. Domestic violence is horrific and antithetical to our values as an institution. Shon Hopwood remains on leave from his position as professor and we will review the matter and follow all applicable personnel processes. Beyond that, we cannot comment on personnel matters.”
News4 also reached out to Hopwood’s attorney for comment.
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