Victims of two Worcester County lawyers have benefited from a fund that reimburses people whose lawyers have stolen money from them.
During fiscal 2009, the Massachusetts Clients’ Security Board fund awarded $1.3 million to 83 clients whose lawyers had stolen from them, according to Karen D. O’Toole, board assistant counsel.
The largest award, $243,498, went to a trust established by the now-deceased mother of disbarred Southbridge lawyer Adrian Gaucher Jr. After borrowing from the trust for personal needs, he tried to discharge those loans in a personal bankruptcy. The court refused to discharge more than $300,000 of debt and said, “In short, he fleeced his mother out of almost everything she had.”
Also, nine former clients of disbarred Oxford lawyer Raymond A. Desautels received a total of $11,084 in reimbursements.
Disbarred lawyer John D. Roberts Jr. of Dennis misappropriated $137,900 from a trust he served as trustee. He was indicted and convicted of the theft. The board also paid $124,593 to seven clients of disbarred Springfield lawyer David Ryan O’Desky, who was convicted of felony-larceny, and clients of Ronald Gary Pinson of Dorchester received $29,056.
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Clients Reimbursed
36 comments:
Lawyers who steal should be not only disbarred; but imprisoned as well - for as long as possible - to set an example for others who might consider stealing.
If the lawyers keep on stealing and getting disbarred in this down economy - and we now know the elder bar is in trouble -
there won't be enough contribution to the funds to make the victims whole!
"During fiscal 2009, the Massachusetts Clients’ Security Board fund awarded $1.3 million to 83 clients whose lawyers had stolen from them, according to Karen D. O’Toole, board assistant counsel."
What is this? Lawyers stealing from their clients? Oh, my gosh, what happened to:
Seizing assets and property to pay the victims:
R E S T I T U T I O N
Disbarred and they should be thrown in a state or federal cage to rot.
More news that we don't get in our sanitized news. Wonder why?
THis is very telling - look how much they paid out.
Lawyers are stealing that much!?
Well, yes, they are and more. How many people don't know to file a claim for these funds? How many people file and get turned down?
The stats are much higher.
But, these stats are high enough to make anybody afraid to deal with a lawyer!
Despite this article, these funds aren't that accessible. When you file a claim, they find any way they can to turn it down - just like the appellate court.
At least, that's what's going on in my state. MA may be different.
lawyers have bad reputations i wonder why? they are at the very bottom (feeders) of the list of people less likely to be trustworthy articles like this prove the stereo type is based on fact i sort of feel sorry for the honest lawyers i know there are some nice ones our there but on the whole lawyers can go to hell or better yet line up for the titanic - bye bye no loss and it would be a plus for society but my luck would be the lawyers would throw the women and children in the sea so they could get a seat on the life boat so forget about the titanic experience
This is sad how lawyers are abusing their powers, when people are at their lowest point. David Ryan Odesky , a lawyer listed in this article... stole $350 from me and my fiance and possibly more if I didnt catch onto his scemes. Shortly after this happened I saw an article in the paper about him stealing from others, so i went forward to the police. Unfortunatly i wasnt one of the lucky people who got their money back. :(
David O'Desky died early November of a heroin overdose.
How do you know this about David anonomyous? That is really sad.
That is so sad about David. How did you find that out?
David died of a heart attack.
Was the heart attack confirmed??
Was there an article in the paper about David? I would like to read it. Please let me know the link if yes, thanks.
When did Dave start doing drugs, this is quite shocking?
I grew up in the same neighborhood as David during childhood and just found about this today. I was extremely shocked and bewildered.
Growing up David was such a popular and well adjusted kid- that seemed well liked by everyone. David would be one of the last people I would expect to have his life end in this depressing fashion.
Growing up he was always an honest person and I can only assume his mind was badly altered by illegal drugs. I don't recall him ever doing drugs growing up. Again, he made some horrible choices in later life and it is very unfortunate that this was the outcome. I just hope that the victims here will receive there money back.
David was doing drugs for years. its the reason he was stealing money from people, to pay for his habit.
Comments including inflamatory allegations against parties not mentioned in this article have been removed by the Moderator.
David O'Desky didn't die of a heroin overdose or a heart attack. He was stealing money from people to pay for a habit but it wasn't drugs.
David did die of a heart attack, and that is confirmed. Most likely drugs caused the heart attack. I am surprised to hear you say his habit was not drugs- he admitted to it several times, and it caused his brain to rot, caused him to speak incoherently, caused him to steal, and caused him to cut off all contact with anyone who really cared about him. The "friends" he chose to surround himself with in his last years were all drug addicts, and literally watched him die. If you know any other "habit" that would cause all this, please, do share.
I think it is a sad commentary to how people are in today's world. David did die, and at this point is it really important how he died? He is gone....he might not have been honest with his clients by taking money from them, but then he did pay the ultimate price....with his life. I hope he is finally at peace and people will remember him as he was when he first became an attorney, and not how his career ended. You will be missed by all who really knew you.
AMEN!
I knew Dave personally and he was so much more than this. He was funny, sarcastic, bizzare, quick witted, tall, loved music, movies, was an amazing artist, but most of all he wanted a fresh start away from Springfield. To say that his problem was not drugs makes me curious and I agree that he paid the ultimate price by losing his life. Not a day goes by where I don't think of him and wish he was still here. I will hold the memories I have close to my heart. Until we meet again, RIP Dave..."First"
The actual sad commentary to this story is that people are so willing to blame drugs for Dave's behavior and hold others accountable instead of the (disbarred)attorney himself.
The choice to use drugs is voluntary at least at first, it was a decision that cost his career. To say that he paid some ultimate price adds insult to the injury already inflicted by his actions. He wasn't remorseful, his actions were intentional and criminal. He abused the legal system long before his drug abuse caused a heart attack.
David was one of my best friends since college 11 years ago. I have confirmed with his family that he died of a heart attack, due to an existing corronary problem that was yet undiagnosed until his death. The mixture of various painkillers, as well as herione, caused the ultimate corronary failure. His girlfriend found him in their bathroom with a bag of paraphenalia and fresh wounds in his arm. She and her father say he was coherent, and put him in bed to sleep it off. At 5:30 in the morning, her father got up to go to the bathroom. As he walked by Dave and checked on him, he was no longer breathing. David was a classic case of a horrible upbringing. His adoptive parents were abusive to him, and he kept his distance for that reason. He was a thief and a liar long before his addiction started. He lied to me, he acted shady, and cared really only about himself. It is sad that he is gone, but don't release him of blame and responsibility. He made choices, and he paid for them. I never thought he would be so weak, but drugs can take over anyone's life. The power of addiction was too strong for him to overcome. I feel the worst for his girlfriend, who stuck through all his BS for so long. RIP Dave
No one is debating the fact that Dave's drug addiction had a devastating effect on his life and everyone that came in contact with him. He lied to everyone!
I'm sorry but if Dave's girlfriend chose to stay with him then she has no one to blame but herself. I highly doubt she didn't know what was going on, especially since some of the articles stated he endorsed checks over to his "woman-friend." Overall it is a very sad situation but why didn't the girlfriend and her father take him to the hospital if they found him on the bathroom with open flesh wounds? To let him sleep it off was not very smart. Just my opinion.
I'm sorry but I don't feel bad for the girlfriend. If she chose to stay with him despite all that was going on then that is her fault. Plus, I highly doubt she didn't know what was going on since some of the articles published stated that Dave endorsed some checks to his "woman-friend." Another question is why didn't she and her father call for help after finding him on the bathroom floor with open flesh wounds? Maybe because he was still on probation and she was afraid he would go back to jail?? Who knows. I realize that everybody reacts differently in traumatic situations but putting him back in the bed to sleep it off was not a smart move. People like to play the victim unfortunately, and to me, she is not innocent at all. She chose to stay with him for whatever the reason is and now he is gone. Just my opinion.
Did anyone else notice that the BBO has David O'Desky listed as disbarred not deceased?
His adopted parents, AKA his parents were not abusive as previously stated. I had known Dave in college and traveled to Michigan to stay with his parents as well as visiting the entire family in at their vacation home in Florida. They are not responsible for what happened to Dave. It is horrible and tragic the way things played out in his life. He was funny and intelligent. That is how I will choose to remember him.
Dave was a lot of things to a lot of people. He was a likable guy that had many friends and all of us would like to remember him that way. But some of us saw the darker, troubled side of him too. He wasn't just hurting himself, he hurt his family, his friends, his colleagues and his clients. He knew what he was doing, he didn't care who he hurt.
I knew David in the mid 90's for a yr or two and it was pretty surprising to hear what had happened to him with this whole situation. Obviously, he did some bad things, made some awful choices in his life and probably hurt alot of people around him. You feel letdown when you hear an old friend went down this path & you wonder how it got to that point.
Many yrs ago i had an experience where i wasn't feeling myself and was just not in the right frame of mind and David sat down, talked w/ me and cracked a joke like he usually did and managed to make me feel better. For no other reason than to be a good friend. That's the guy im going to remember when i think of David.
No question he made more than enough mistakes in his life and it's a sad situation cause he cost people alot of money and trouble, those who were around him were hurt & in the end he's gone. No one benefits when something like this happens. RIP David.
Dave was a lying thief and did whatever he had to get what HE wanted. He was a true sociopath. And on top of being a sociopath he was a pathalogical liar. He didn't care who he hurt or how far he took relationships, as long as he got something out of it. I was friends with him and I am sorry that I feel this way (since at one time I felt different) but he took from me and never gave it back. I can't imagine he was always this way and obviously somewhere down the road he lost himself. I truly hope he is at peace and can rest comfortably knowing all the things and lives he has ruined. To me there are two things in life you don't mess with and that is people's money and their children and he did both in a big way.
Justice will be served when Dave and his girlfriend face the consequences of their actions.
I also knew Dave very well for many years. While I do not excuse his recent behavior, he was a sweet guy. Always willing to help out a friend. It's too bad his so called "friends" in recent years, couldn't do the same for him. His "girlfriend/co-dependent addict" that found him on the bathroom floor should be brought up on charges. Watching someone harm themselves and doing nothing is called depraved indifference.
I have read all of these posts that have been put up by either friends or foes of Dave's. I will say this, Dave was one of my best friends. I have seen him at his best and his worst. By no means do I condone what he did. I will say it again. I DO NOT CONDONE what he did. My problem with all of this is that everybody likes to kick a man when he's down. All of you like to write negative things about a man that is no longer with us. I feel you are all a bunch of cowards. If you are going to bash him, at least have the guts to attach a name to what you're saying. Stop being cowards and place a name or a contact to your post. I know both Becky and the O'Desky family personally. They are all outstanding people. If they knew to the extent to which Dave was suffering, believe me they would have taken more drastic steps to help him. You can take that to the bank. Knowing Dave as well as I did, one of his many fantastic qualities was that he was a terrific speaker. That was part of his demise. He was able to make people think he was ok, when in reality he was crying for help. Those of you who understand this can relate. Don't do what everyone else does and be a "Monday Morning Quarterback". We all have the luxury of saying what we would do after the fact. When people are put in tough situations, decisions need to be made in the blink of an eye. Unfortunatley Becky or her father don't have the luxury of saying "I should have done this different". Neither does his brother or his parents. They have to live with this trajedy. Everbody who is posting lost money. Big deal. That's the problem with this world. It revolves around money and not what's important. Health, Happyness etc. Money can be replaced, Dave can't. I can't post this acting like a saint, cause those of you who know me, know that I am not. But find it in your heart to let his family be. They are suffering enough. Trust me. I am writing this in tears because Dave was one of my very best friends and I always believed that a friend sticks by his friend even when he's wrong. Yes, as a friend it's your responsibility to let him know when he is wrong and believe me I did several times. Let sleeping dogs lie though. I am not a coward. If anyone wants to call me out or has a problem with what I said, my name is Scott Troy and you can email me at scott.troy34@gmail.com and I would be happy to defend a true friend.
In the United States, extortion is a crime.
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