Superior Court remembers Judge Ralph W. Wyatt for his kindness, thirst for knowledge

by The Bakersfield Californian

Former Kern County Superior Court Ralph W. Wyatt was appointed to his position by former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Contributed photo

Kern County Superior Court recalled Judge Ralph W. Wyatt, who died last month, as a man who inspired people and whose proudest achievement was securing public access to local bodies of water.

Wyatt died Tuesday. The cause of his death was not disclosed. His age was not immediately available.

“Judge Wyatt encouraged, inspired and counseled everyone who knew him,” the court stated in a news release.

He began working as a court commissioner in 2008, when he presided over probate, guardianship and conservatorship cases. Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Wyatt to become a judge after Judge Jon E. Stuebbe retired in 2014, and soon the new judge was presiding over jury trials.

“His exacting standards and high expectations earned him the nickname ‘The Technician’ from the attorneys who practiced in his courtroom,” according to a news release.

Wyatt earned his law degree from the California Western School of Law in 1974 and worked as an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Diego before moving to Kern County. He worked as a public defender from 1975 to 1981 and as an associate and partner at several law firms before he took the bench.

His greatest achievement was to secure public access to the Kern River from Lake Ming to the mouth of the canyon. That path was a walk he took nearly every day, a news release said.

But it was his personality that Superior Court remembered most: Wyatt loved sharing knowledge cultivated from a decades-long law career with young attorneys whose first stop may have included his courtroom, a news release said.

“His judicial colleagues remember him as a deep thinker with an incredible thirst for knowledge,” Superior Court continued in a news release. “Court staff remember the kindness, patience and respect he showed every day.”

Wyatt is survived by his wife, two sons and grandchildren.

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Superior Court remembers Judge Ralph W. Wyatt for his kindness, thirst for knowledge

Former Española court clerk says judge fired him for balking at misdeeds

By Phaedra Haywood

A former Española Municipal Court clerk has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the city, contending he was fired for objecting to unlawful conduct by his boss at the time, former Municipal Judge Stephen Salazar.

Salazar recently resigned and agreed never to work as a judge again to avoid further discipline from the state Supreme Court over an incident in which the judge had pushed and spoken angrily to another city worker while at a home improvement store.

The judge had been disciplined for misconduct in the past. The clerk’s lawsuit says Salazar regularly bent the rules to serve his own purposes.

Joseph Madrid Jr. worked as a clerk under Salazar from 2015 until 2019, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in state District Court. During that time, the lawsuit alleges, he witnessed multiple actions by Salazar that made him uncomfortable.

Salazar did not respond to a message seeking comment Friday. Española City Manager Xavier Martinez said he hadn’t seen the lawsuit and couldn’t comment.

One instance of inappropriate behavior involved a cousin of Salazar’s by marriage, the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, Madrid said he recognized the man’s name on a criminal complaint and asked the judge if he should prepare recusal paperwork because he knew the judge had recused himself from presiding over the man’s cases in the past due to the familial relationship.

But in this instance, the lawsuit says, Salazar told him not to prepare the paperwork, adding he would be the judge on the case.

When Madrid asked the judge why he wasn’t recusing himself as he had in the past, Salazar told him it was “a favor to family,” the lawsuit says.

When Madrid objected, Salazar repeated he’d handle the case and asked Madrid to do as he was told.

The lawsuit also said that over the next few years, Salazar’s wife’s cousin was a party in other cases and Salazar did not recuse himself.

Madrid’s lawsuit also claimed Salazar suspended him without pay for a day and a half after a mixup regarding his rescheduling of several trials.

Madrid believed the discipline was unwarranted, his lawsuit says, “since he was following the verbal instructions of the judge.”

In the lawsuit, Madrid says he told co-workers and his father, Rio Arriba County Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid, he felt Salazar was not following court rules, and in April 2019, while serving his suspension from work, he told a co-worker he was considering talking to a reporter about Salazar.

Later that month, Madrid’s lawsuit says, Salazar fired him and told him his comments to others, particularly about going to the press, were the basis for his termination.

Madrid said Salazar read him the termination letter in front of a human resources director but failed to read the last line of the letter, which gave Madrid the option of resigning as opposed to being fired, the lawsuit contends.

Had he known that was an option, Madrid’s lawsuit says, he would have resigned in order to preserve a good employment record with the city.

Madrid is seeking an unspecified amount of damages, plus legal costs.

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Former Española court clerk says judge fired him for balking at misdeeds

Appeals court partially rules for former judge in probate case

A visiting panel remanded part of the case back to the trial court

 

by: Joe Gorman

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A panel of visiting judges in the 7th District Court of Appeals this week partially ruled in favor of an appeal filed by former Mahoning County Court Judge Diane Vettori.

In an opinion issued Thursday, the visiting judges ordered that a ruling ordering Vettori to pay over $12,000 in interest in an estate case that Vettori’s lawyers claimed was a “prejudgment” order be vacated but ruled against her claim that the judge in her probate case was not impartial.

Vettori was sentenced in June 2019 to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to stealing several hundred thousand dollars from the estate of a client she once represented in a probate case.

Vettori served as a judge in area court in Sebring from 2002 until the time the charges were filed against her, when she was suspended. She has since lost her law license.

In a separate case in Mahoning County Probate Court, Vettori was ordered to pay back over $185,000, including the over $12,000 interest.

Vettori’s lawyer John Juhasz asked that the interest be excluded, saying that it was rewarded before a hearing was held by Visiting Probate Judge Thomas Swift.

The visiting judges ruled that they could find no record of any hearing held on the matter of interest and ordered that the issue be remanded back to a trial court for further action.

As to Vettori’s claim that Judge Swift was not impartial, the visiting judges ruled that they could find no evidence to back up that claim and they dismissed it.

The judges who heard the appeal are W. Scott Gwin, Patricia Delaney and Craig R. Baldwin.

Vettori’s husband, former city police officer Ishmael Caraballo, pleaded guilty for his role in the crime and was sentenced to probation.

Full Article & Source:

Appeals court partially rules for former judge in probate case

 

See Also: 

Trial of Sebring judge to begin earlier

 

UPDATE | Mahoning County judge charged with stealing

Mahoning County judge charged with stealing over $96K from client

Ex-judge spent tax dollars on Birkenstocks and an ear wax removal kit, prosecutors say

By Bill Rankin

 

Facing 57 counts, he has agreed to never hold judicial office again

The former chief judge of Pickens County Magistrate Court, under indictment for financial fraud and theft, has agreed to never hold judicial office again, a court filing said.

Allen Wigington, who also served as a Probate Court judge, was indicted in November on 57 counts for improperly using his county-issued credit card, forgery, theft and violating his oath of office. His wife, Rosemary Wigington, a high school teacher, also faces two theft by taking counts.

A recent filing by the state judicial watchdog agency with the Georgia Supreme Court includes a consent agreement signed by Wigington in which he said he will never seek judicial office again.

“We came to this resolution to insure the public and judiciary are protected,” the agency’s director, Chuck Boring, said Wednesday.

The state Attorney General’s Office’s prosecution division obtained the indictment. The case was investigated by the GBI and the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office.

Wigington stepped down as a judge last year after being arrested for allegedly taking funds from a local nonprofit, where he served as treasurer, to pay off personal debts.

After the GBI was brought in, dozens of other alleged offenses were uncovered. This included Wignington running up more than $2,600 in unauthorized charges on his county-issued credit card, the indictment said. Wigington also improperly used that credit card to buy an Apple iWatch, Birkenstock sandals, children’s toys, clothing, an ear wax removal kit and a Nintendo Switch, the indictment said.

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Ex-judge spent tax dollars on Birkenstocks and an ear wax removal kit, prosecutors say

Family speaks after former Limestone County judge who stole from them for years was convicted

by: Ethan Fitzgerald

LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala – Last week former Limestone County judge, Douglas Patterson was sentenced to 4-years in prison for several ethics-related charges. As part of the conviction, Patterson is being ordered to pay just under $73,000 in restitution to three different parties.

Jessica Hardy is owed $25,000 after her father’s conservatorship account was drained of roughly $47,000 dollars. Hardy says another judge gave control of the conservatorship to Patterson. Court documents show Patterson took money from the account over the course of 6 years.

“I wanted to see everything. I saw all these withdrawals. One day he took a total of $6,000 in one day,” said Jessica Hardy, who contemplated legal action before the Alabama Attorney Generals Office stepped in.

“I was like, Momma, I’m poor. I can’t afford no lawyer. I can’t go against no judge,” said Hardy when her disabled mother urged Jessica to find answers.

For Hardy, the situation only got worse when she made a call to the hospital to see if she could visit her dying father, a former marine.

“The nurse was like, ‘Well, Doug Patterson told me he didn’t have any family.’ I was like, ‘What!?'” said Hardy.

Eventually, Hardy heard from the Attorney General’s office.

“It felt like weight lifted off of me,” said Hardy.

It’s not clear if the Hardy’s will ever see $25,000 from Patterson or his family. One thing is clear, had the money never left the Hardy’s account, things today would be a whole lot easier.

“We are staying in a hotel because of this COVID situation. I had lost my job,” said Hardy.

Last week, when Patterson was hauled away to start serving his prison sentence, he shared a few words with reporters.

“I’m sorry for everything I did, I’m sorry for all the hurt I caused. I stick to that. I’m very sorry,” said Patterson.

Despite all that has happened to the Hardy’s, Jessica says she has forgiven the former judge.

“It’s the only way I can release myself. And feel good about myself because I can’t carry that hate,” said Hardy.

Patterson also wrote upwards of 70 checks to himself. Taking money from the Limestone County Juvenile Court Services Fund for several years.

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Family speaks after former Limestone County judge who stole from them for years was convicted

Family convicted Alabama judge stole $25,000 from: ‘I’m poor....I can’t go against no judge’

Doug Patterson, the former Limestone County district judge, was sentenced on Dec. 8, 2020 to four years in prison.

By William Thornton

A Limestone County woman says she has forgiven a convicted judge who still owes $25,000 from her father’s conservatorship account.

“It’s the only way I can release myself,” Jessica Hardy told WHNT.

Doug Patterson, a former Limestone County district judge, was sentenced last week to four years in prison. Patterson, 38, pleaded guilty in October to felony charges of using his position for personal gain, financial exploitation of the elderly and theft.

Hardy’s conservatorship account had roughly $47,000 dollars siphoned off over a six-year period, including $6,000 in one day, the station reported. Patterson already repaid about $22,000 of the money that was stolen from Hardy’s father, the veteran Charles Hardy, who has since died.

 

And that’s not all. Hardy told the station that complications continued when she made a call to the hospital to see if she could visit her dying father, a former marine.

“The nurse was like, ‘Well, Doug Patterson told me he didn’t have any family.’ I was like, ‘What!?’” Hardy said.

Her disabled mother suggested she search for answers. “I was like, Momma, I’m poor. I can’t afford no lawyer. I can’t go against no judge,” Hardy said. Eventually, she heard from the Attorney General’s office.

Patterson stole nearly $73,000 from a juvenile court fund and two of his former legal clients. Prosecutors said he wrote 70 checks to himself from the court fund, which he oversaw as a district judge. He has been ordered to repay the stolen money by Dec. 1, 2029 — about five years after he is to be released from prison.

Full Article & Source:

Family convicted Alabama judge stole $25,000 from: ‘I’m poor....I can’t go against no judge’ 

 

See Also: 

Former Limestone County judge pleads guilty to theft and ethics charges

 

Former Alabama judge sentenced to prison for theft

ATHENS, Ala. (AP) — A former Alabama judge who pleaded guilty to felony ethics and theft charges was sentenced to four years in prison during a hearing Tuesday.

Douglas Patterson, who resigned from his job as district judge in Limestone County in July, also was ordered to pay almost $73,000 in restitution, and sheriff's deputies took him into custody immediately, news outlets reported.

After serving his sentence, Patterson must spend six years on supervised probation and could be sentenced to additional time in prison if he fails to comply with its provisions.

Patterson, 38, pleaded guilty in October after being indicted last year on charges of financial exploitation, theft and using his position for personal gain. He was was accused of taking more than $47,000 from a juvenile court fund as judge and stealing from the conservatorship account of a disabled person while working as a private attorney.

Former Gov. Robert Bentley appointed Patterson to the judgeship in March 2016, and he later ran unopposed and won a six-year term.

 

Full Article & Source: 

Former Alabama judge sentenced to prison for theft

Former Limestone County judge pleads guilty to theft and ethics charges

Douglas Patterson

A former Limestone County judge pleaded guilty on Friday to theft and ethics charges.

Douglas Patterson resigned from his position in July. He pleaded guilty to the intentional use of official position or office for personal gain, financial exploitation of the elderly first degree and theft of property third degree.

Patterson agreed to pay a restitution of more than $70,000. In his plea agreement, he admitted to "violating his oath of office and Alabama law by stealing $47,800 from the Limestone County Juvenile Court Services Fund which was designated to support the children of Limestone County," said Attorney General Steve Marshall in a statement Friday afternoon.

Patterson was initially charged in 2019. Until his resignation in July of this year, he received $5,404.42 twice a month from the State of Alabama while being suspended from working as a judge.

On Oct. 28, Attorney Chuck Warren filed a motion to withdraw as counsel for Patterson.

Patterson pleaded guilty during a hearing Friday morning at the Limestone County Courthouse. His sentencing is set for Dec. 8 at 1:30 p.m.

You can read more from the attorney general's statement on Friday below: 

"Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the conviction Friday of Douglas Lee Patterson, a former district court judge in the 39th Judicial Circuit in Limestone County, on three felony charges: use of official position or office for personal gain, financial exploitation of the elderly in the first degree, and theft of property in the third degree."

"On October 30, Patterson pleaded guilty in the Limestone County Circuit Court to the above three felonies before specially appointed Judge Steven E. Haddock. Judge Haddock set sentencing for December 8 at 1:30 p.m. The ethics charge and the financial exploitation charge are Class B felonies punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment and a $30,000 fine. The theft charge is punishable by up to five years of imprisonment and a $7,500 fine.

"As part of Patterson’s plea agreement, he admitted to violating his oath of office and Alabama law by stealing $47,800 from the Limestone County Juvenile Court Services Fund which was designated to support the children of Limestone County. As Limestone County’s juvenile court judge, Patterson could and did impose supervision fees in certain juvenile cases, which he later stole and used for his own personal benefit. By the time Patterson’s actions were discovered, he had emptied the juvenile account.

"Patterson also admitted in court that, while serving as a private attorney, he financially exploited Charles Lee Hardy, for whom he served as a court-appointed conservator. Hardy, who died in December 2015, was a disabled military veteran living in a nursing home. Patterson disregarded his obligation to protect Hardy’s finances and instead plundered his account by taking Hardy’s money and spending it on himself. By the time Hardy died, Patterson had emptied his account and left his family nothing to inherit from the account.

"Finally, Patterson admitted that he stole from another conservatorship client, Rudolph Allen, while in private practice. In this case, Patterson stole $601 from Allen three years after he died in July 2015. Patterson spent the money on himself rather than turn it over to Allen’s family."

 

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Former Limestone County judge pleads guilty to theft and ethics charges

Ex-judge accused of trust theft, his lawyer sanctioned for bid to ‘mislead’ court

by Dave Stafford

An ex-Indiana judge whose former law office is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from an estate he established that was meant to go to charity has been sanctioned — as has his defense attorney — after a judge ruled they made false statements and attempted to mislead the court in the charity’s civil lawsuit.

One-time Jasper County Judge Robert Monfort and his attorney, Vincent Antaki of the Reminger law firm, were ordered last week to pay the plaintiff’s attorney fees and costs in responding to Monfort’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Jasper Newton Foundation.

Special Judge Mary Harper in Jasper Superior Court found that both Monfort and Antaki asserted repeatedly that no money had been disbursed from the estate of Rose Nagel, who had been a client of Monfort’s when he made her estate plan that included substantial gifts to local Catholic schools through the foundation. The recipients have received no distribution from the estate of Nagel, who died more than three years ago.

“As it turns out, roughly $218,000 had been distributed from the Estate by the time Monfort asserted otherwise,” Harper wrote in a July 13 order. She also found both Monfort and Antaki violated Indiana Trial Rule 11(A), in particular that “(t)he signature of an attorney constitutes a certificate by him that he has read the pleadings; that to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief, there is good ground to support it; and that it is not interposed for delay.”

Harper found the opposite was true regarding arguments that no loss had been incurred in the Nagel estate. “Clearly, the No-Loss Assertions were false,” she wrote. “There is no question Monfort violated Ind. Trial Rule 11(A). As for Monfort’s counsel, Vincent P. Antaki, the parties argued over an attorney’s duty to verify the information he receives from his client. … Here, Monfort’s counsel argued the No-Loss Assertions arose form a ‘misunderstanding.’ He did not explain this misunderstanding, nor did he inform this Court of what steps he took, if any, to verify what Monfort told him. Also, he made no attempt to correct the record.

“… This Court finds Monfort and Monfort’s counsel attempted to intentionally mislead this Court with false statements designed to obfuscate issues, delay the proceedings, induce this court to make an obvious legal error, waste judicial resources, and escalate the Plaintiff’s costs,” Harper wrote.
She ordered both Monfort and Antaki to pay the plaintiff’s attorney fees related to responding to Monfort’s motion to dismiss, preparing for and attending a hearing on the motion as well as preparing the sanctions motion.

Monfort faced discipline for misconduct related to the Nagel case and another estate his former Monon law firm established. He is accused in separate lawsuits of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars to his law firm, an office employee and a family member after the clients died.
Last month, Monfort resigned from the Indiana bar rather than face an attorney discipline case. In doing so, he was required to acknowledge there was an Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission proceeding alleging misconduct and that he could not successfully defend himself if prosecuted.

Monfort has not been criminally charged.

Harper set a hearing for Sept. 9 on attorney fees and costs as well as on the plaintiff’s motion to compel discovery served on co-defendant Teri Hardin. She was Monfort’s former office manager who also had served as personal representative of Nagel’s estate.

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Ex-judge accused of trust theft, his lawyer sanctioned for bid to ‘mislead’ court

Former judge accused of defrauding estates resigns from bar

by Dave Stafford

A one-time northern Indiana trial court judge who is accused in lawsuits of taking money from two estates in cases he represented has resigned from the Indiana bar rather than face disciplinary proceedings related to his misconduct.

The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday accepted the resignation of Monon lawyer Robert V. Monfort. In resigning, Monfort acknowledged that there was a Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission proceeding alleging misconduct and that he could not successfully defend himself if prosecuted.

Montfort, who once presided as a Jasper Superior Court judge, has not been criminally charged, but lawsuits filed on behalf of charities in Rensselaer allegt he and/or his law office misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars that a deceased widow bequeathed to community charities.The commission filed a disciplinary complaint April 27 accusing Monfort of criminal acts and “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation,” among a litany of other ethical charges.

The discipline case against Monfort arises from two estate matters he handled that resulted in litigation in Jasper Superior Court against him and his law firm.

In one case, charities that stood to benefit from an elderly widow’s estate accuse Monfort of undue influence over Rose Jennette Nagel that “resulted in more than $600,000 in damages” to a Catholic school and the Jasper Newton Foundation, which the suit says stood to benefit from her bequests. The suit also makes claims of negligence and improper estate administration, and contests Nagel’s probated will that would have instead left her estate to an employee in Monfort’s office who also had served as personal representative for Nagel’s estate.

Monfort also is accused of attorney misconduct in handling the estate of Anthony Kaczorowski, who died intestate in 2014. Among other things, the commission says as recently as 2019, Monfort swore an affidavit that Kaczorowski had no known heirs, which he knew to be false. The commission likewise levels allegations of criminal conduct and fraud in Monfort’s handling of that case.

The commission alleged Monfort consumed nearly all of the $114,000 in Kaczorowski’s liquid estate assets through estate administration expenses, inappropriate fees and“unjustified payments to respondent and his office staff,” and more.

Meanwhile, Monfort faces one other civil lawsuit alleging professional negligence in his office’s handling of a third estate case, that of John Garling. Garling’s estate alleges, among other things, that the case dragged on for more than five years while a personal representative appointed at Monfort’s request caused assets to be dissipated and “may have taken certain assets for his own personal use.”

The suit also alleges a house belonging to Garling’s estate was sold for an amount significantly below fair market value.

Monfort was judge of Jasper Superior Court 2 from 1994-2000. The Indiana General Assembly dissolved the court, a decision affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court in 2000.

Monfort, who was admitted to the bar in 1988, was previously suspended for 30 days with automatic reinstatement for helping a client in 2009 who previously had been a defendant in a drunken-driving case in which Monfort had presided as judge.

The disciplinary case is In the Matter of: Robert V. Monfort, 20S-DI-284.

Full Article & Source:
Former judge accused of defrauding estates resigns from bar

Former judge Sherwood sentenced up to 9 years; stole millions from elderly clients

The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Richard Sherwood leans over to try to
sign, awkwardly, a court document while
wearing handcuffs. His attorney, William
Dreyer of Dreyer Boyajian, looks on.

GUILDERLAND — Richard Sherwood, once a Guilderland town judge, stood before the bench of both a federal judge and then a county judge on Thursday to be sentenced for crimes to which he had pleaded guilty: stealing millions of dollars from elderly clients whose estates he managed.

Wearing a green and orange prison jumpsuit, he told federal judge Lawrence Kahn that he was “so ashamed, embarrassed, and angry at myself,” just before he was sentenced to 54 months, or 4½ years, to be followed by one year of supervised release.

Later that same day, in the state’s Supreme Court — the lowest rung in its three-tiered system — Sherwood was sentenced by Judge Peter Lynch to 3 to 9 years; the two sentences will run concurrently.

Sherwood was in prison garb because he was already in federal custody. He had needed to turn himself in prior to the sentencing, his attorney William Dreyer of Dreyer Boyajian said, for it to be possible to have the sentences run concurrently.

In federal court, Sherwood received a sentence of 54 months for one count of conspiracy to launder money and 36 months on each of two counts of filing false income tax returns, for the years 2013 and 2015. The sentences on the three federal charges are to run concurrently, for a total of 54 months. Sherwood had faced a maximum of 20 years on the charge of conspiracy to launder money.

Sherwood, who hung his head throughout nearly the entire proceeding, had asked Kahn whether he should stand to give his statement.

He told the judge, ”I just want to express my sincere remorse for the horrible thing I have done.” He added, “I sincerely apologize to anyone I have hurt or disappointed or embarrassed, including the bar and the judiciary, by what I have done.”

Sherwood and Lagan’s elderly clients were Capital Region philanthropists Warren and Pauline Bruggeman, who had intended part of the assets for the lifelong care of her sisters, also elderly; remaining funds were to go to charity once all the family members had died. All four had eventually died, and none of them had any children.

Restitution will be made to the intended charities, once it can be ascertained who was to get what. Assistant United States Attorney Michael Barnett told Kahn, at Lagan’s sentencing, that the pair of financial advisors had made such a mess of the books that investigators had not yet sorted everything out.

Sherwood’s wife, Carole, was in the courtroom, but declined to comment after the sentencing.

Dreyer, Sherwood’s attorney, told the federal judge on Dec. 19 that Sherwood had admitted guilt right away when first approached by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in February 2018. The agents had visited both Sherwood and his co-conspirator Thomas Lagan at the same time and, while Sherwood was explaining to them how the trust had been set up as a fraud, Lagan was apparently telling them that the trust was legitimate and reflected their elderly client’s wishes for Lagan and Sherwood to have the money.

Lagan then spent a year denying everything, Dreyer said, while Sherwood explained how the pair’s financial crimes had worked and helped the officers track the funds.

The amount of restitution due, Kahn said, is the total amount Sherwood stole, $5,560,505.

Assistant United States Attorney Michael Barnett told The Enterprise after the sentencing that Sherwood has at this point “satisfied a substantial amount of his restitution obligation.”

Watching

The victims of Sherwood’s financial crimes are dead, but in the courtroom was a woman who said she had waited years to see justice done. Melinda Peck had appeared in Sherwood’s Guilderland courtroom in July 2016 to give a victim impact statement against her former boyfriend, William Beer, whom a jury had convicted of having assaulted her in April 2014 by punching her repeatedly in the head one night while he drove and she sat in the passenger seat. The assault charge was a misdemeanor, but Beer had opted for a jury trial.

Sherwood gave Beer no jail time but only a $1,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. The District Attorney’s Office had asked for nine months in Albany County’s jail. “I felt like he was in a really high position, and he was looking at my life like I was nothing. He had more compassion for my assailant, a criminal, than he did for me,” Peck told The Enterprise in the federal courtroom Thursday morning.

All the effort she had made for the two years it took her case to work its way through the system, including reliving the details in open court while Beer and a friend sat in the gallery and snickered, felt like it was for naught, she said.

This time, she said at Sherwood’s sentencing, she got to see the justice system work. She felt peace, she said, adding, “”This is the end of a long, emotional road. Now I get to go home to my family.” She doesn’t take pleasure in his demise, she said, but she is relieved to see the justice system work, she said, “the way it is supposed to.”

After the conclusion of the federal sentencing, Peck said she had spoken to Carole Sherwood, telling her, “I’m one of the people your husband hurt.”

Peck said that she had had added, “Let him know I accept his apology.”

The sentence

Earlier, on Dec. 11, Lagan was sentenced to 78 months, or 6-½ years, a sentence two years longer than given to Sherwood.

Kahn said at Sherwood’s sentencing that he was taking into account many factors, including the pre-sentencing report, plea agreement, sentencing memorandum by counsel, and the sentencing guidelines. The sentencing guidelines advise a period of imprisonment of between 78 and 97 months.

Kahn also considered, he said, the defendant’s overall conduct, lack of criminal history, and his long-standing prior work as “a respected attorney and as a judge.” Kahn took into account, he said, Sherwood’s immediate admission and his ongoing cooperation, his truthfulness throughout the investigation, his help in tracking the assets involved, and his demonstrated remorse.

The judge noted that Sherwood had indicated during the investigation that he had stolen to “make up for lost income from sloppy billing practices in his law firm over the years.” Kahn noted that this was not an excuse, but said that Sherwood’s co-defendant, Lagan, had never offered any reason whatsoever for his actions.

Khan said he was also factoring in the substantial loss, and Sherwood’s abuse of trust.

“As a former judge, Mr. Sherwood knows more than most defendants that no one is above the law,” Kahn said.

After announcing Sherwood’s sentence, Kahn told him, “I'm sure once this is behind you, you will have, hopefully, many years of a good life with your family again that still supports you.”

County court

Later that same day, in the state’s Supreme Court — the lowest rung in its three-tiered system — Sherwood was sentenced by Judge Peter Lynch.

In Lynch’s court, the attorneys — Dreyer for Sherwood and Christopher Baynes of the Attorney General’s Office for the state — both asked the court to modify Sherwood’s sentence on a single charge of second-degree grand larceny to, instead of 3-½ to 10 years, 3 to 9 years.

Dreyer told The Enterprise that Sherwood will have an opportunity to apply for parole after three years.

Lynch addressed in court the possibility of applying for parole in three years, and noted that, if the application is made and then denied, Sherwood could not apply again for two years. That would mean, the judge said, that his sentence would be longer than the 4-½ years given by Kahn. The parties all agreed that, if that were to happen, they would return to Lynch’s court for a resentencing.

The amount of restitution due in the state proceeding is $5,329,706.

Kahn had clarified in his sentencing that restitution of either amount will count toward the other, so that Sherwood will not be paying twice.

Dreyer had requested of Kahn that he recommend that Sherwood serve his time at the federal prison in Canaan, Pennsylvania — the same prison that Lagan had requested a week earlier because, Lagan’s attorney Kevin Luibrand said, it has an outstanding substance-abuse treatment program.

After the sentencing in county court, Dreyer told The Enterprise, “He doesn’t want to be in there with Mr. Lagan. He wants to be in that facility.” There was no indication, in either sentencing, that Sherwood has any substance abuse problems, as Lagan does.

Rather, Sherwood’s attorney said, he made the request because the prison in Canaan is the federal prison with openings that is closest to the Capital Region.

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Former judge Sherwood sentenced up to 9 years; stole millions from elderly clients 

Indictment: Ex-judge stole cash from client

YOUNGSTOWN — Former Mahoning County Judge Diane Vettori-Caraballo of Youngstown was accused in an indictment Thursday of stealing between $100,200 and $328,000 in cash that was in the home of a client when the client died in March 2016.

A Mahoning County grand jury handed up indictments against Vettori-Caraballo on charges of mail fraud, structuring cash deposits and making false statements to law enforcement. Vettori-Caraballo, 50, and her husband, Ismael Caraballo, 60, were also charged with one count of filing a false tax return.

In her private practice, Vettori-Caraballo provided estate planning services to Robert Sampson, including drafting his will, according to the indictment. On Nov. 20, 2015, Vettori-Caraballo filed an application in Mahoning County Probate Court to administer Sampson’s estate. The application stated Sampson died without a will.

The probate court, unaware of Sampson’s will, appointed his sister, Dolores Falgiani, as the administrator three days later, according to the indictment.

Vettori-Caraballo had also prepared Falgiani’s will, according to the indictment. The will made 16 bequests to relatives and friends and bequeathed the rest of the estate to Animal Charity Human Society of Boardman and the Angels for Animal Charity in Canfield, according to the indictment.

Sometime in October or November 2015, Falgiani told Vettori-Caraballo that she had several shoeboxes of cash stored at her residence, the indictment states.

Falgiani was found dead in her home on March 10, 2016, according to the indictment. Vettori-Caraballo filed an application two weeks later in Mahoning County Probate Court to probate Falgiani’s estate.

On May 2, she reported having found $20,000 in cash in the residence and depositing it into the estate, according to the indictment. She filed a notice of newly discovered assets with the court on several subsequent occasions in 2016 and 2017.

However, the amounts were not what she actually found, according to the indictment. Investigators said she made 22 deposits in her name into five banks within four weeks to avoid regulations that require banks to report cash transactions over $10,000 to the IRS, the indictment states.

The information charges that Vettori-Caraballo lied to the FBI when she was confronted about the theft and the structuring of cash deposits.

Vettori-Caraballo was elected to position of judge in Mahoning County Court 3, Sebring Court, in 2002, with jurisdiction over misdemeanor criminal and traffic charges and other matters in Sebring and Beloit Villages and Berlin, Green, Goshen, Ellsworth, Smith and Washingtonville Townships. She was re-elected in 2006 and 2012, according to the indictment.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian M. McDonough and Alex Abreu.

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Indictment: Ex-judge stole cash from client

Kids-for-cash judge seeks clemency

SCRANTON — Disgraced former kids-for-cash Judge Michael T. Conahan seeks clemency on the 17½-year federal prison sentence he is serving.

Conahan, 66, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges in the scandal and has been behind bars since he was sentenced in September 2011. A searchable database on the Department of Justice’s website that was made public in March shows Conahan has a pending request for a sentence commutation, or reduction.

The database does not provide any information about the reason for the request. Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said the pardon attorney’s office does not disclose where in the process a case is pending.

Michael Conahan

Conahan and fellow Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. were convicted of accepting kickbacks in exchange for funneling juvenile defendants to detention centers built by developer Robert K. Mericle’s construction firm and operated by companies controlled by former local attorney Robert Powell.

Ciavarella went to trial and was initially convicted of 12 of 39 charges, receiving a sentence of 28 years in prison. But he appealed and saw a federal judge reverse three of the most serious convictions earlier this year.

Conahan, however, reached a plea deal with prosecutors. He initially had a deal that would have put him in prison for just over seven years, but a federal judge rejected it because Conahan refused to accept full responsibility for the kids-for-cash scheme.

He ended up being sentenced to 17½ years in prison — more than a decade longer than called for under his initial deal.

Conahan is serving his time at Federal Correctional Institution, Miami, while Ciavarella is at Federal Correctional Institution-Ashland in Kentucky.

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Kids-for-cash judge seeks clemency

Ex-judge, who helped husband hide money, fights for pension

Former Judge Patricia Coffey

CONCORD — Eleven years after resigning as a Rockingham County Superior Court judge, after helping her disbarred lawyer-husband hide money from the state, Patricia Coffey is suing for an annual $89,604 pension, more than $400,000 in back-pension pay and health insurance.

Coffey resigned in 2008 after the Supreme Court suspended her for three years without pay, for helping her husband John Coffey create a trust to hide assets, while he was being disbarred for the financial exploitation of an elderly Rye woman. Coffey was also investigated for 2006 allegations that she fell asleep while presiding over Superior Court cases, was ordered to seek a confidential medical examination and be subject to random monitoring of her courtroom.

Now represented by Portsmouth attorney Russell Hillard, Coffey on Friday filed a four-count federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire contending the Board of Trustees of the New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan voted in 2015 to deny her pension application.

Her lawsuit reports she’s now 64, lives in California and was a superior court judge for 16½ years. During that time, Coffey claims in her suit, she made mandatory pension contributions and under terms of the plan, is entitled to a pension of 71 percent of her final year’s salary.

Coffey’s suit states her final year’s salary was $126,203, so she’s entitled to an annual pension of $89,604. She’s asking for a jury trial, a finding that the board violated law by denying her pension and that her pension be paid, with back pay. She’s seeking compensation for lost health benefits for the past four years, enrollment in the judicial health plan and reimbursement for legal costs and attorney’s fees.

The lawsuit states Coffey was denied the pension because the board found she was not employed as a judge at the time of her retirement age, while Coffey disputes that interpretation of applicable law. Coffey claims in her suit that she was vested in the retirement plan because she had the 15 years of minimum service when she reached age 60.

The suit was just filed Friday and the Board of Trustees for the New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan has 30 days to respond.

Six months after she resigned as a Superior Court judge, Coffey was again the subject of judicial reprimand. Then the N.H. Supreme Court’s Judicial Conduct Committee found she violated judicial code of conduct by drawing a salary from a private company, while also collecting full judicial pay, while suspended and under investigation for previous impropriety.

In a statement, the JCC announced Coffey violated three canons of the judicial code of conduct by collecting full-time pay for document retrieval services for a New York City firm at the same time she collected her judge’s pay. Coffey signed a document accepting the JCC’s findings and agreed she would be the subject of censure, a public reprimand, for the violations.

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Ex-judge, who helped husband hide money, fights for pension

Former Georgia judge charged with exchanging favorable rulings for sex

A former Georgia probate judge has been indicted for soliciting sexual contact in exchange for favorable rulings in traffic and driving under the influence charges, the Justice Department announced.

Bobby Joe Smith, 77, of Hartnell, Georgia, a former probate judge for Hart County, was charged with one count of bribery and three counts of civil rights violations. He will appear before a federal judge in the Middle District of Georgia on April 25.

Between May 2013 and May 2014, Mr. Smith met with three different women in his office regarding DUI and other traffic offenses, according to court papers. Prosecutors allege that during these meetings, he kissed and groped the women, exposing himself to one of them.

He is alleged to have called a judge in another county where one of the women had a speeding ticket and falsely claimed the women was his granddaughter, the department said, adding that none of the women consented to his sexual advances.

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Former Georgia judge charged with exchanging favorable rulings for sex

Former district judge sentenced for theft, mishandling funds

When former District Judge Timothy M. Dougherty spoke more than 17 years ago at the sentencing for a clerk who stole from his court, he said that a clear message must be sent.Dougherty asked the judge to give the woman “the most severe of all penalties” for abusing the trust of the community, saying that it was wrong to treat the court as a way to obtain loans that are only paid when one gets caught.

Dougherty's words came back to haunt him Monday.

The old case was referenced several times as he was sentenced before visiting Senior Judge John L. Braxton of Philadelphia County, for a similar theft that ended his nearly 18-year career as a district judge in May 2016.

Dougherty, 58, of Wyomissing admitted at his guilty plea on Sept. 20 that he stole nearly $100,000 from a volunteer fire company organization and mishandled more than $15,000 from his court office.

Braxton said that he wouldn't be harsh, as Dougherty had asked when he was the victim, but said the ex-district judge must pay his debt for violating the public trust.

Braxton sentenced him to six to 23 months in Berks County Prison followed by five years of probation. Dougherty, also a former police officer, was placed in handcuffs immediately and taken to the prison Monday night.

“I do not believe you are a bad man, but that you engaged in bad behaviors,” Braxton said, adding that the case's significance stretches beyond Dougherty in trying to restore the community's faith in the judicial system.

“I have to bring this to closure … not with just a slap on the wrist to send you home and play house arrest,” the judge said.

The penalty fell between requests from Deputy Attorney General Michelle Laucella and defense attorney Allan L. Sodomsky.

Laucella asked for at least one year in state prison, while Sodomsky asked for house arrest and probation.

Braxton and the attorney general's office handled the case to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

What went wrong?

Before imposing the sentence, Braxton said the unknown reason for Dougherty's fall from grace and where the money went still “truly troubles me” and “boggles my mind.”

“I just don't understand what was going on in the mind of this man,” Braxton said. “He has all of what is reflective of what a quality life is. … What went wrong with the good things?”

Authorities said that Dougherty stole $97,780 from the Wyomissing Fire Company's volunteer component, where he served as treasurer, from November 2008 to September 2015, and also mishandled $15,251 from his court office in September and October 2015.

When investigators asked about the missing funds, Dougherty told them that it was spent on “life,” not exciting things like “drugs or prostitutes.”

Laucella said that her office never gained a clear understanding of where the money went or why the court's finances were mishandled.

Dougherty didn't answer that question either Monday, but hinted at an explanation.

“Someone I cared deeply for needed more of me than I had,” he said. “I made decisions with my heart and not my head and I lost my way.”

Dougherty apologized to his family, specifically his wife, Susan, for making her wear “the scarlet letter that only I deserve.”

He said he will make the fire company whole again and hopes one day his the organization's members will forgive him for his betrayal.

Dougherty was ordered Monday to pay about $70,000 more to the organization after already paying back $27,780.

“I'm not an evil man and I'm no danger to society,” Dougherty said. “I'm not really even a bad person. I just made a bad decision.”

Dougherty was making an annual salary of $88,290 when he was charged in the case. He resigned shortly afterward and lost his pension when he pleaded guilty Sept. 20 to theft by unlawful taking and misapplication of public funds.

He will receive the pension he earned with the Cumru Township Police Department. Before entering law enforcement, Dougherty spent four years in the Navy, including three as an administrator at the Pentagon.

Dougherty's wife and five friends gave statements on his behalf, speaking of various times he came to their aid, calling him loving, dedicated and dependable.

Sodomsky said that he believed the sentence was fair and that Braxton thoughtfully weighed Dougherty's crimes against the rest of his life.

“I'm thankful that the matter's over,” Sodomsky said. “It's a sad day for our justice system.”

Victim impact

Laucella was also satisfied with the sentence and said she believed justice was served. She thanked the many individuals from the fire company organization and court office who testified before the state investigating grand jury and came to the sentencing.

“Without these people and their testimony, we wouldn't have been able to move forward,” she said. “It just shows that there are good people out there.”

Prosecutors said that the money taken from the fire company was largely made up of donations. As treasurer, Dougherty maintained the group's financial records.

Authorities said that his records were full of discrepancies and the balances did not match the actual money in the accounts.

Laucella said that investigators found Dougherty made 127 unauthorized cash withdrawals from the savings account in seven years, noting that bank records did not go back any further.

No one from the organization spoke at the sentencing, but its president, Richard Bare, wrote in a statement they have been subjected to ridicule and that trust in the organization has eroded. He said the theft crippled the organization financially, draining its account to barely $1,000.

The organization does not respond to fires, but does community education on fire prevention and safety, and also preserves firefighting history through a small museum and antique fire engine.

Bare said that Wyomissing Borough Council took on many of those responsibilities in the past year because the organization didn't have enough to buy a charger and batteries for the antique engine so that it could be used at two annual parades.

Bare said the organization “implemented financial safeguards for this to never happen again” and hopes other volunteer organizations do the same.

Two former clerks testified about the tense atmosphere in the court office as the investigation played out.

The investigation began when authorities discovered discrepancies in the amounts in the court's bank account and what was reported to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

The district court collects fines, restitution and court costs in civil and criminal cases and is required to make daily deposits.

Dougherty made the nightly deposits for his office and had final authority over the court's finances.

Investigators determined $15,251 was unaccounted for and questioned Dougherty about the missing funds in early October 2015. He claimed he didn't have the money.

But Dougherty deposited the full amount 20 days later on Oct. 27, 2015, the day before he was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury.

Former clerk James Caltagirone said that he considered Dougherty to be a close friend as well as an employer.

He said he was at the district judge's side and called for an ambulance when Dougherty fell down stairs the morning he was to turn himself into authorities.

Caltagirone also asked Dougherty to one day pay him back for the $3,000 loan he gave him in April 2015.

Former clerk Margaret Yatron said that she was shocked when she found out what was happening and didn't know how to handle it.

“The tension and fear of him catching on that we knew what was going on was unbelievable,” she said, noting the court employees were initially suspects, too. “It was 15 months that we were there and knew it.”

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Former district judge sentenced for theft, mishandling funds

Group reportedly plans to file complaint against ex-judge

MORRISTOWN -- The Families Civil Liberties Union is reportedly filing a complaint against a Superior Court judge who recently left the bench when his term expired without reappointment.

The group is alleging that Philip Maenza, formerly a family court judge in Morris County, made false statements under oath and improperly discussed matters before the court in his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to a report in Observer/New Jersey Politics.

The complaint is being filed with the New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct.

The New Jersey Law Journal reported in December the committee recommended tenure to 14 judges but declined to hold a vote on Maenza after hearing testimony from several who appeared before him in family court.

Maenza left the bench Jan. 19, said Pete McAleer, spokesman for New Jersey Courts.

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Group reportedly plans to file complaint against ex-judge

Prosecutors oppose release of indicted Arkansas ex-judge

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. –  Federal prosecutors oppose the release of a former Arkansas judge until his trial on charges of giving lighter sentences to defendants in exchange for nude photos and sexual acts.

The motion filed Friday says former Cross County District Judge Joseph Boeckmann has tried to bribe or threaten witnesses against him by using third parties, showing he "has both the ability and the willingness" to try to tamper with witnesses without personally contacting them.

Boeckmann's attorney had asked that he be allowed to live with relatives until his November trial.

The 70-year-old Boeckmann resigned in May and has pleaded not guilty to fraud, bribery, witness tampering and other charges.

A U.S. magistrate judge on Wednesday denied bond, but said he will consider allowing Boeckmann to stay with a family member far from Cross County.

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Prosecutors oppose release of indicted Arkansas ex-judge

The perils of probate court: Former judge with Alzheimer's could lose her life savings

Superior Court Judge Betty Lou Lamoreaux in 1988

Retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Betty Lou Lamoreaux was such a force in juvenile justice that the seven-story family court building bears her name.

Every day, hundreds of children and their parents stream through the doors of the Lamoreaux Juvenile Justice Center in Orange. Some are in trouble with the law, some are from fractured families. All are hoping for justice tempered with mercy.

Now Lamoreaux is in danger of being financially drained, in part by the very justice system to which she dedicated her life.

Lamoreaux, 92, has Alzheimer’s dementia, according to court records. Her family – mostly nieces and nephews, as Lamoreaux has no children – is trying to care for her and preserve her estate. But they’ve fought over how best to do that, and about who should be in charge of Lamoreaux’s money, and they’ve taken the fight to probate court.

The family dispute has grown to include no fewer than three judges and nine lawyers and related professionals, with more attorneys set to join the fracas.

Now, some in the family are afraid the trip to probate court could end with attorney fees swallowing up “Auntie Lou’s” nest egg, forcing her to sell her $1.8 million house in Newport Beach.

They argue that the particulars of probate court are problematic.

“The very court system she served, and was honored by, is now bilking her of her life savings,” says Duff McGrath, her 58-year-old nephew and her trustee.

“It wouldn’t happen to Betty Lou Lamoreaux if it wasn’t happening to a lot of other people. The system is flawed.”

McGrath’s frustrations are echoed by many in probate court – where the affairs of a loved one can be taken out of the hands of family members and turned over to experts who often are paid hundreds of dollars an hour. Every year, nearly 5,000 probate-guardianship cases grind their way through probate court in Orange County.

In theory, the work is done by sincere professionals trying to protect their clients.

But by nature, the process of turning one’s affairs over to lawyers and their subcontractors can get expensive, even when fees must be approved by the court.

Good work, some argue, takes time. And in probate court, time definitely is money.

“Even if you’re trying to do a good job (on behalf of the client), the longer it takes to do a good job, the more money you get,” said Kurt Eggert, director of the Alona Cortese Elder Law Center in Orange.

“There is the incentive to prolong the case.”

Until 2014, Lamoreaux shared her Newport Beach home with her 87-year-old sister, Shirley, and a niece. Over the years, as Lamoreaux’s dementia worsened, her house fell into disrepair, to the point of being unhealthy, according to court records.

McGrath and some family members went to probate court in 2015, hoping to get a court order that would give them the authority to separate Lamoreaux from those they felt would do her harm.

McGrath had moved Lamoreaux from her house to a senior living center in Corona del Mar while her home was undergoing repairs.

The court responded by appointing two people to the case, an attorney and a guardian – who also is an attorney – to represent Lamoreaux.

That’s when the legal wrangling began.

The court appointees, after speaking with Lamoreaux, believed she wants to move back home with her sister. A judge agreed and ordered McGrath to help Lamoreaux return home, a ruling McGrath has appealed.

McGrath hired his own legal team, who argued that Lamoreaux should stay at the center, which they noted has the expertise and facilities to care for her.

Along the way, the case picked up more professional consultants, a fiduciary and a few more lawyers, all charging from $200 to $450 an hour.

McGrath said the total, when everybody is working – including his attorneys – is about $3,000 an hour.

Experts hired in the case declined comment or did not return telephone messages.

Lamoreaux’s fate now is in the hands of Judge Kim R. Hubbard. A hearing is set for Tuesday to determine whether McGrath should be removed from his trustee position.

Lamoreaux’s physician has indicated that she should not be moved at this time, and she repeatedly tells friends that she wants to stay at the center, according to court records.

The attorney appointed by the court to represent Lamoreaux, Ernest Hayward, requested this week’s emergency hearing to determine whether McGrath should be thrown out as trustee and replaced with a professional. McGrath accuses Hayward of attempting to wrest more control over Lamoreaux’s affairs.

Regardless of who is right, finding the answer may get even more expensive than it’s been so far.

“We fell into a spiderweb,” said McGrath. “It’s been a year and a half of hell.”

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The perils of probate court: Former judge with Alzheimer's could lose her life savings