Jury Slams Lawyer With Guilty Verdicts On 13 Counts In Connection With His Abuse Of POA To Drain His 89-Year Old Grandmother's Trust Fund Out Of Over $1.3 Million; Leaves $24 Balance At Time Charges Were Filed

In Golden, Colorado, KDVR-TV Channel 31 reports:

• A Lakewood attorney was found guilty of 13 counts for bilking his 89-year-old grandmother out of more than $1.3 million over a nine-year period, the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday [June 14].(1)
  
  The jury determined Glenn Gregory, 55, took the money from bank accounts opened in the name of a trust fund of his grandmother, Martha Villano.
  
  The trust fund was to be used until Villano’s death and was dwindled to $24 by the time charges were filed last year. Gregory was trustee for the trust and had power of attorney for Villano.
  
  Prosecutors said between August 2006 and May 2015, Gregory took more than $1.3 million from the trust’s accounts, including cash, online transfers to accounts that Gregory controlled and gifts to five family members.
  
  Villano was deposed before the trial because of health concerns and the recorded interview was presented to the jury.
  
  “We believe this is the highest value theft from an at-risk elder in Colorado,” District Attorney Pete Weir said. “Crimes against our older adults are unconscionable and will be prosecuted vigorously.”
  
  The jury deliberated for two days after a four-day trial. Gregory was found guilty of seven counts of theft, five counts of theft of an at-risk adult and another count of theft.
  
  He is free on $150,000 bond. Sentencing was set for Aug. 18.

Source: Lakewood attorney found guilty of bilking grandmother out of $1.3 million.

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(1) The Colorado Attorneys' Fund for Client Protection is a fund established by the Colorado Supreme Court to reimburse clients who suffer a loss of money or other property from the dishonest conduct of their attorney. The fund is a remedy of last resort for clients who cannot be repaid from other sources, such as from insurance or from the attorney involved. Claimants are expected to make reasonable efforts to collect from these other sources first.

"Dishonest" conduct includes theft or embezzlement of money or conversion of money, property or other things of value, refusal to refund unearned fees and costs deposits, or borrowing money from a client without intention or ability to repay it.

At the present time there is a limit of $50,000 per claim and an aggregate maximum limit of $100,000 for all claims against a single attorney. You must file a claim within three years of the date you knew or should have known about the dishonest conduct of your attorney.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that sometimes help cover the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (February 2017) (includes Canadian recovery funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.