Disbarred lawyer Garve Ivey Jr. convicted of theft, ordered to pay $381,515

Attorney Garve Ivey - Mobile County Circuit Court - June 15, 2000

A disbarred attorney from Walker County has been convicted on two counts of felony theft of property.

Garve Ivey Jr., 67, pleaded guilty in a Walker County courtroom Wednesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Thursday.

Ivey admitted to unlawfully taking client funds from his trust account over a period of several years to fund his extravagant lifestyle, Marshall said. He pleaded guilty before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Streety, who was specially-appointed to preside over the case.

The investigation into Ivey began after the Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama State Bar received multiple complaints regarding theft of client trust funds. An extensive investigation showed that on several occasions, Ivey would settle cases on behalf of clients that were plaintiffs in personal injury or wrongful death cases.

Instead of informing his clients that a settlement had been reached and disbursing to the victims their portions of the funds, he would transfer the settlement money into his operating and personal accounts and use it to fund his lavish and extravagant lifestyle, Marshall said.

In 2011, Ivey was disbarred from the practice of law by order of the Supreme Court of Alabama. He had consented to disbarment based on two investigation concerning the misappropriation of third-party and client funds from Ivey’s trust account.

In 2012, he was indicted by a Walker County grand jury on multiple charges of theft of property. In those cases, authorities said, Ivey was charged with 10 counts of first-degree theft of a check or currency valued a more than $2,500 and one count of second-degree theft of a check or currency valued between $500 and $2,500. The money belonged to 14 people.

The following year, Ivey was again indicted in Walker County with two additional theft charges.

After many years of delays, the case was set to go to trial in April. However, Marshall said, at a Wednesday status hearing, Ivey agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts and pay restitution in the amount of $381,515.20. Both counts are class B felonies and are controlled by the Alabama presumptive sentencing guidelines. Sentencing will be left to the discretion of the court and is set for April 29, 2019.

“The victims in this case went to Ivey for help at a time of great need,” Marshall said in a prepared statement. “These people were injured in an accident or a family member was wrongfully killed and they were seeking justice. Instead, they were victimized again by the greed of an individual who used his position of trust to enrich himself.”

“This type of conduct erodes the trust that the people of Alabama should be able to place in members of the Alabama bar,’’ Marshall said. “It will not be tolerated.”

Ivey, who was once active in politics and was the brother of former Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey, was sentenced by a judge in 2000 to 30 days in jail and fined $1,000 for his role in an ex-hooker’s election-year 1998 accusations against former Lt. Gov. Steve Windom. The misdemeanor conviction, however, was reversed and a judgement of acquittal entered in 2001 in that case.

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Disbarred lawyer Garve Ivey Jr. convicted of theft, ordered to pay $381,515