A disbarred Calgary lawyer has admitted to a shocking breach of trust, pleading guilty to forging court emails to deceive a client about scheduled child access hearings, actions the father says kept him from his children for years.
Deception Unfolds Over Months
Ronverg Mendoza, a former family law lawyer, entered a guilty plea on Thursday, January 15, 2026, to the charge of uttering forged documents. According to an agreed statement of facts presented in court, Mendoza fabricated emails on five separate occasions in 2022, making his client, Gord Weston, believe hearings to see his children were imminent when none existed.
The deception began after an October 31, 2021, court ruling denied Weston parenting time with his youngest child. As Weston sought to schedule a new access hearing, Mendoza embarked on a complex charade. On June 22, 2022, he provided Weston with the first forged email, which appeared to come from a courthouse scheduling address and indicated a Webex hearing was set for August 10.
A Fabricated Paper Trail
The lawyer's fraud extended beyond emails. In July 2022, Mendoza worked with Weston to draft an affidavit for the supposed upcoming hearing. He later forged a clerk's stamp on the document to make it appear filed on July 12, though it never reached the courthouse.
When August 10 arrived, Mendoza sent another fake email stating the hearing was adjourned to September 9. On the morning of September 9, a third forged email claimed the Webex hearing was adjourned again, necessitating an in-person hearing. Later that month, a fourth phony email set a new date for October 28, confirmed by a fifth forged note on October 4.
The Day of Reckoning and Aftermath
The scheme collapsed on October 28, 2022, when Weston arrived at the Calgary Courts Centre for his supposed in-person hearing, only to find his case was not on the docket. After Weston demanded an explanation via text, Mendoza replied with a disturbing message: "Hi Gord, I apologize but there's no trial today and will face the consequences. I have no excuses. I will end my life today."
Weston, who told Mendoza he had "made sure I won't see my kids again," also ensured a wellness check was conducted on the lawyer. Outside court following the guilty plea, Weston expressed relief but lingering confusion. "I do not know what his ... mind was thinking to this day, I couldn't even tell you, it's really perplexing," he said.
He noted it took two to three years of "diligence and hard work" to resolve his family law matters after the deception. Mendoza's sentencing hearing has been adjourned to April 2026.
