Scott Rothstein Asks Judge for Mercy

Lawyer Scott Rothstein sought the mercy of a judge in a letter released Friday, saying he “begged God to help” him as he contemplated committing suicide before returning from Morocco last fall to accept blame for orchestrating South Florida’s biggest financial fraud.

Rothstein — who has pleaded guilty to operating a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme and could face a life term at his sentencing on Wednesday — implored U.S. District Judge James Cohn to consider “giving me an opportunity to live at least part of the remainder of my life as a free man, with an opportunity to do some good in this world.”

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Scott Rothstein Asks Judge for Mercy

Judge Lindsey Ellis Plays Judicial Immunity Card

Retired Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Lindsay Ellis — under fire for giving select attorneys a sneak peak at her draft order approving the draining of an elderly widow’s life savings — is asking a Superior Court judge to halt his inquiry into her conduct.

Ellis contends that she can’t be hauled into court and asked why she gave favored treatment to one side, the side that wound up with most of Marie Long’s money.

Her reason? She has judicial immunity.

Ellis has hired a trio of attorneys who contend that Presiding Judge Barbara Mundell and Presiding Probate Judge Karen O’Connor exceeded their authority in ordering an investigation into Ellis’ “alleged improprieties”.

“If absolute judicial immunity means anything, it must mean that a judge cannot be hailed into court and asked to participate in a hearing aimed at piercing the core of her judicial function – the decision and her decision-making process,” attorneys Kevin O’Malley, Paul Charlton and Kiersten Murphy wrote in asking that the court inquiry be cancelled.

Ellis’ neutrality has long been questioned in the case of the 88-year-old widow who went from having $1.3 million to nothing while under the protection of probate court. O’Connor twice denied requests to remove Ellis from the case, claiming there was no evidence of bias.

But last month’s remarkable revelation that Ellis, through a judicial assistant, communicated with one side in the case has led to a collective jaw drop in the legal community. Her March 15 draft order, ruling that a group of fiduciaries and probate attorneys were justified in collecting nearly $800,000 from Marie, was sent only to those who stood to benefit from the ruling. Attorneys for Marie and her sisters didn’t find out about the improper “ex-parte” communication until mid May when attorney Brenda Church finally disclosed Ellis’ e-mail and her reply, suggesting several factual changes.

The revelation prompted O’Connor to immediately transfer this hot potato out of probate for a hearing into Ellis’ conduct. Mundell, in turn, quickly tossed it to Judge Robert Budoff, who ordered everyone involved in the case – including Ellis — to his courtroom on June 7.

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Judge Ellis to Superior Court: Bite Me”

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Judge’s E-Mail Raises Eyebrows

Disbarred Atty & Former Office Manager Arrested and Charged

A disbarred Venice attorney and his former office manager were arrested and charged with stealing nearly $1 million from the estate of a North Port woman.

Venice police arrested Raymond Miller, 66, Tuesday and charged him with grand theft for transferring about $941,000 from the estate of Beila Millet into his law firm and personal accounts beginning in 2007.

Miller’s office manager, Kathryn Kelley, 52, who worked at Miller’s probate and estate law office in the 200 block of Harbor Drive for 30 years, was also charged with grand theft for making many of the transfers, including bonus money to herself, according to the police report.

Beginning in 2007, Miller, as trustee, took control of about $1million from Beila Millet’s estate and disbursed about $122,000 to her heirs, according to the report.

But when Millet’s stepdaughter, Ann Wacholder, called Miller last year to find out about the remaining $941,000 — much of which was supposed to go to charities in Israel — she learned that Miller had been disbarred for mishandling estate funds.

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2 Accused in $941,000 Grand Theft

NJ Lawyer Charged With Taking Client’s Money

A Bergenfield lawyer was arrested on charges he used funds from a trust account for his own benefit.

Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said that Eugene N. Cavallo, 60, of Clyde Court, was charged on May 17 following an an investigation by members of the prosecutor’s office White Collar Crime Unit.

Molinelli said that members of that unit had received information from the New Jersey Lawyer’s Fund for Client Protection that a victim had filed a claim on Jan. 30, 2009, that Cavallo, while acting as the victim’s attorney, had taken approximately $456,793.67 from an attorney trust account that Cavallo had designated for the victim’s funds, and had used those funds for his own benefit.

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Bergenfield Lawyer Accused of Taking Client’s Money

Former Lawyer Indicted for Fraud

Mingo County lawyer has been indicted in federal court on charges of defrauding West Virginia Public Defender Services.

William Duty, Jr., a self-employed attorney in Williamson, faces charges of submitting payment vouchers for services he did not perform.

Duty was appointed, at various times, to represent indigent clients in criminal procedures in Mingo County Circuit Court. The procedure for payment for these legal services was that Duty would obtain a payment voucher, signed by the Circuit Judge, verifying the amounts owed and the services rendered for the various clients. These vouchers were submitted to the West Virginia Public Defender Services for payment.

[F]rom June 2005 until December 2007, Duty allegedly altered signed payment vouchers with false names and other false information.

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<a href="
http://www.williamsondailynews.com/view/full_story/7576636/article-Former-lawyer-indicted-for-fraud?instance=secondary_news_left_column”>Former Lawyer Indicted for Fraud

Lawyer Disbarred Over Trust Fund Theft

A Bartlett lawyer suspended in March after he was charged with stealing thousands of dollars from a children’s trust fund now has been disbarred.

James M. Hoots was arrested in February.

He was charged with felony theft of property for allegedly stealing some $76,000 and gambling it away at the Tunica casinos.

The Tennessee Supreme Court announced Tuesday that Hoots has consented to disbarment because he cannot successfully defend himself on a complaint of misappropriation of funds.

Hoots, 56, admitted to the administrator of the children’s estate that he had taken the money and that he had a gambling problem, according to an affidavit.

“I took the children’s money and took it to Tunica to try to make more money,” administrator Lana Scott said Hoots had told her in November.

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Memphis Lawyer Disbarred Over Children’s Trust Fund Theft

CA Probate Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

An attorney in Pasadena, Calif., has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $500,000 from his clients’ estates, according to prosecutors.

Oscar Cruz Parra, 67, a probate attorney who was arrested in March at his home in San Dimas, Calif., agreed in a plea deal to serve five years in state prison and pay $441,000 in restitution to five former clients. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 15.

On Friday, Parra pleaded guilty to four counts of embezzlement, according to the Los Angeles County, Calif., district attorney’s office. He stole the money beginning in 2000, filing false court papers to cover up his actions.

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Probate Attorney Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Conahan Ran the Show, Feds Say

From the moment he took a Christmas Eve drive with Robert Powell in 2001 to check out the site for a new juvenile detention center, Michael Conahan made it clear: He was the man in charge.

Over the next seven years he proved true to his word, evidence collected by federal authorities shows. He took the lead role in soliciting more than $700,000 in kickbacks from Powell, prosecutors say, and in developing a scheme to conceal the source of that money, as well as more than $2 million paid by real estate developer Robert Mericle.

It’s long been speculated that Conahan was a key figure in orchestrating the scheme that resulted in charges against himself, former judge Mark Ciavarella, Powell and Mericle. A court document filed Tuesday by federal prosecutors reveals new details about the depth of his involvement.

The document, a reply to dozens of pre-trial motions filed by attorneys for Conahan and Ciavarella, portrays Conahan as a puppet master and Ciavarella as a willing assistant who pulled some of the strings, but who left most of the details to Conahan.

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Conahan Ran the Show, Feds Say

Probate Judge’s E-Mail Raises Eyebrows

Draft of Ruling Was Sent To Only One Side:

Hours before releasing a combative order that approved the draining of an 88-year-old widow’s life savings, a Maricopa County probate judge sent a draft copy of her ruling to the attorneys who stood to benefit – a violation of the judges’ ethics code.

One of those attorneys responded to the March e-mail and even suggested several changes that were incorporated into Pro-Tem Judge Lindsay Ellis’ 21-page ruling.

“I could not be happier,” attorney Brenda Church replied, upon getting the proposed order.

I guess not. Church’s bill for $333,000 was among bills totaling nearly $800,000 about to be approved by Ellis.

Three other attorneys – Lauren Garner and Jerome Elwell who were working for the Sun Valley Group, and Brian Theut, the old lady’s guardian ad litem – also received Ellis’ draft ruling. None of them reported Ellis to the Commission on Judicial Conduct or notified the attorneys representing Marie Long and her sisters of the improper “ex-parte” communication. Such contacts are a violation of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct.

Presiding Probate Judge Karen O’Connor, who twice last year rejected requests to disqualify Ellis from the case due to bias, has ordered a hearing into the matter, which came to light late last week.

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Probate Judge’s E-Mail Raises Eyebrows

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Probate Judge Violates Ethics Code

Lawyer Busted

Agents from the attorney general’s office arrested a Montgomery County attorney for stealing nearly $555,000 from an elderly woman and, after her death, from her estate. He allegedly used the money to refinance his North Carolina beach house and to pay his credit card debt, authorities said.

Attorney General Tom Corbett identified the defendant as Frank H. Morgan, Jr., 63, of 1704 Clocktower Drive, West Chester, a partner in the Norristown law firm of McTighe, Weiss, O’Rourke, Troncelliti and Morgan.

Evidence and testimony regarding Morgan’s alleged illegal activity was presented to a statewide investigating grand jury, which recommended the criminal charges being filed .

The grand jury found that in February 2006, Rita Trish, a 90-year women living in a Gladwyne assisted living facility, gave Morgan power of attorney, which authorized him to act on her behalf in legal and business matters. Trish gave Morgan her power of attorney three weeks after her husband died.

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West Chester Lawyer Busted For Bilking Elderly Client Out of $550,000