 A Baltimore defense attorney was arraigned Wednesday on charges of obstruction of justice and witness intimidation for allegedly trying to dissuade a rape victim from testifying against his client by telling her she risked deportation by the Trump administration. During that meeting, authorities say they caught Vasiliades on tape offering the victim and the witness $3,000 each if they didn’t show up to testify, and if the case got “thrown out.” 
 
 On the recording court documents say Vasiliades tells the victim’s husband “you know how things are with Trump’s laws now; someone goes to court, and boom, they get taken away.” 
 
 Vasiliades had a plan that on the court date, the victim and witness should wait outside the courthouse, with a man who would have the cash. "If we were back home where I'm from, from Greece ... we would go (expletive) him up, that's it, if you want to do that, that's fine," Vasiliades was recorded saying, according to court documents. “ I think you should find him and kick his ass, personally.” 
 
 The next day, the group gathered again in an office, and this time the husband was wearing a wire when the attorney warned that his client would finger the victim as someone who is in the country illegally. Vasiliades returned to that courthouse Wednesday afternoon — wearing a yellow jumpsuit and hands cuffed behind his back. Rodriguez, who identified himself as Vasiliades' interpreter, also was charged with obstruction of justice and witness intimidation, according to court records. Vasiliades pleaded not guilty to the charges. The charges against Aguilar-Delosantos come amid heightened concerns for immigrants as the Department of Justice steps up immigration enforcement. "If you're an immigrant, you live in a climate of fear at this point, and these folks were trying to capitalize on that," Attorney General Brian Frosh told The Baltimore Sun. The indictment alleges Vasiliades contacted the victim's husband in April and said the case "had become 'more complicated'" and that Vasiliades wanted to meet to discuss the case. At that meeting, the victim's husband said Vasiliades and Rodriguez warned of the potential risk for the couple if they testified in court. They "explained that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would likely be present in the courtroom for their client … and cited new federal laws and policies and maintained there is a high risk that" they would be deported if they testified in court, according to the indictment. The couple reported the incident to law enforcement and authorities were listening in when the husband called Vasiliades a few weeks later and said he wanted to meet to talk more about the offer. They agreed to meet three days later, and the victim's husband wore a recording device provided by law enforcement. They met with Vasiliades again on May 18, and during that meeting, he ordered everyone to keep their cell phones in the lobby, and didn’t allow them to bring phones into the office. "My guy's going to be like, 'I'm here, but she is too!'" He said that on the trial date, the couple should wait outside the courthouse, where the attorney's associate, Edgar Rodriguez, would be holding the cash, authorities alleged. If the case was thrown out because the victim didn't show up, the lawyer would emerge and give a thumb's up so they could collect the money, the indictment said. "Find him and wear him out," he said, according to the indictment.
– A now-deleted website for Christos Vasiliades described him as an "aggressive" Baltimore attorney "dedicated to client service." Authorities say he's so dedicated, in fact, that he tried to bribe an alleged rape victim so she wouldn't testify against his client, suggested that she beat him up instead, and threatened her with deportation, reports the Baltimore Sun. Vasiliades, 38, was arrested in court Tuesday after the husband of the alleged victim told authorities about an offer he'd made the couple during an April meeting. During a second meeting on May 18, during which the victim's husband wore a wire, Vasiliades allegedly said his client was "very sorry" and would pay $3,000 if the couple failed to show up to his trial for assault, rape, and other sex offenses. Referring to his client, Vasiliades said that in his home country of Greece, "we would go [expletive] him up," according to an indictment. "I think you should find him and kick his ass, personally," he reportedly added, per NBC News. Vasiliades also told the couple there was a "high risk" they would be deported if they appeared in court because immigration officials would be present, authorities say. "You know how things are with Trump's laws now; someone goes to court, and boom, they get taken away," he allegedly said. "This is terrible. This is as bad as it gets," Maryland AG Brian Frosh tells CBS Baltimore, adding to the Sun that "if you're an immigrant, you live in a climate of fear at this point, and these folks were trying to capitalize on that." Vasiliades and his interpreter were arraigned Wednesday on charges of obstruction of justice and witness intimidation. Both pleaded not guilty.