Former Atty Pieter DeJong Gets 5 Years for Theft From Deceased Woman's Estate

Chastised by a judge for dishonoring the legal profession, a now-disbarred lawyer from Long Valley was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for stealing $265,552 from a deceased woman’s estate.

Pieter DeJong, 63, was first disbarred by the state Supreme Court in 2009 for misappropriation and his prosecution followed. He pleaded guilty in state Superior Court, Morristown, in March to theft by failure to make required disposition of property received between 2005 and 2008 from an estate.

DeJong, who mainly practiced real estate law, in 2005 represented the buyer of a piece of property. He issued two checks totaling $265,552 from his attorney trust account to the seller, Jane Davis, but she died within a month of the closing so the checks were never cashed. Instead of notifying Davis’s estate, DeJong used the money as his own over a three-year period until estate executors noticed sale proceeds were never deposited into Davis’s account, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Robert Weber said.

Weber called the theft “a crime of opportunity.” DeJong apologized, saying he has lost the respect of his family and a career he loved. He said he accepted blame but attributed his actions to negligent bookkeeping.

Full Article and Source:
Washington Township Lawyer Gets 5 Years for Theft From Client's Estate

See Also:
Former Atty Pieter J. DeJong Charged With Stealing From Client's Estate