Disbarred lawyer Robert Menard pleaded guilty to theft and embezzlement Thursday in a plea deal that calls for prosecutors to recommend the once-prominent lawyer serve three years in prison, followed by three years of extended supervision.
Menard, 59, pleaded guilty to four felonies for bilking four clients, including his uncle, out of tens of thousands of dollars. Menard, who is in Alaska and attended the hearing via Zoom, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 21.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Milton Childs is not bound by the recommended sentence and Menard's attorney, Craig Mastantuono is expected to seek a lesser sentence that would not include prison time.
For 25 years, Menard and his then partner Alan Derzon ran the well-known firm of Derzon & Menard. The firm specialized in workers' compensation cases and billed itself as lawyers for the "average Joe" and used the fictional "Joe Bob" as its mascot.
The partner's breakup became a public feud in 2017 when Derzon sued Menard charging him with stealing from their law firm and pocketing more than $1 million, including funds from Derzon's retirement account, according to the suit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court and Derzon's lawyer.
Two years later Menard was charged by the Milwaukee County district attorney with stealing more than $700,000 from the law firm and from numerous clients, including his uncle. Additional charges were filed the following year, bringing the total he was charged with pocketing up to nearly $1 million.
In March 2020, the state Supreme Court took the unusual move of issuing an emergency suspension against Menard's license saying his "continued practice of law poses a threat to the interests of the public." The court disbarred Menard two months later.
Mastantuono asked that the sentencing hearing be in April because Menard is working on his mother's farm in Alaska.
"His mother farm requires winter labor that should be over by April and he very much wants to help her," Mastantuono said.
Several of Menard's former clients who were victim's of his thefts will likely testify at the sentencing in April, said Nicolas J Heitman, assistant district attorney told Childs
"There
are a multitude of victims in these cases and I know several of them
will want to address the court in person," Heitman said.
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