A remorseful disbarred lawyer from Niagara County admitted to a gambling addiction today when he was sentenced in Erie County Court for stealing almost $34,000 from a client’s estate.
Erie County Judge Sheila A. DiTullio ordered David R. Schnell, 53, of North Tonawanda, to repay the $33,937 and serve six months in jail and five years on probation for stealing the money from the estate.
“I’m extremely sorry and remorseful for my actions,” Schnell told the judge. “My clients put their trust in me, and I [betrayed] that trust.”
The defendant, who previously had pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny, also apologized both to his own family and to other attorneys for his actions.
His attorney, Joel L. Daniels, told the court that Schnell makes no excuses for what happened and blames no one but himself.
“The lure of those casinos, judge,” Daniels told DiTullio. “You go there enough, and it becomes an addiction.”
Schnell currently is serving two consecutive one-year sentences in Niagara County, after pleading guilty to grand larceny for thefts from other estates there.
Saying she’s deeply bothered by legal professionals taking money from clients, DiTullio said she’s most concerned about ensuring that Schnell make full restitution to the state Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection.
That fund is in the process of paying the victims in the Erie County case, said John C. Doscher, who heads the district attorney’s Special Investigations Bureau. But fund officials are asking to be reimbursed for their payment.
“You admit to taking the money, you’re remorseful, and you admit to a gambling addiction,” DiTullio told the defendant.
She then announced her sentence, which includes a six-month jail term concurrent with Schnell’s Niagara County sentence.
Schnell was ordered to pay the full amount back over 10 years, at $282.81 per month.
Attribution:
North Tonawanda lawyer sentenced for stealing from client
Gene Warner
August 28, 2012
BuffaloNews.com
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/police-courts/courts/article1026757.ece
Estate of Denial® provides news, analysis and commentary on abusive practices occurring in probate courts and via probate instruments (wills, trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney). We provide original perspective to educate the public regarding this growing threat to both individual freedoms and property rights.