After Polk County lawyer stole millions, is there any hope of compensation?

by Gary White

The recent sentencing of Jason Penrod, a Polk County lawyer who pleaded guilty to stealing money from clients, raises a question: Can former clients victimized by a lawyer expect to recover any money they lost?

The answer is ... maybe. Even if no money remains available to claim through a civil lawsuit, The Florida Bar offers an avenue for seeking at least partial compensation.

Who is Jason Penrod?

First, the background on Penrod.

He founded and owned Family Elder Law, a firm with offices in Lakeland, Lake Wales and Sebring. The firm abruptly closed its offices in July 2024 with no warning to clients.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested Penrod in September 2024 on a charge of grand theft. PCSO alleged that Penrod stole nearly $1.8 million from a client’s trust

Authorities later added a second grand theft, along with about 30 counts of money laundering.

Penrod lost more than $1.7 million while gambling on multiple visits to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office stated.

Penrod, 48, pleaded guilty on Dec. 12 to two counts of grand theft and 19 counts of money laundering. Grand theft involves amounts of more than $100,000. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, followed by 15 years of probation.

What is The Florida Bar's program?

The Florida Bar, which licenses all lawyers working in the state, created the Clients’ Security Fund in 1967 as a means to compensate clients who suffer losses through “misappropriation” by a member.

The program, funded by a portion of annual membership fees, is discretionary, meaning the fund is not obligated to pay any claim, according to The Florida Bar’s website.

There are limits on claims: They can be filed only if a lawyer has been disciplined through suspension, disbarment or revocation, unless the attorney is dead. (The Florida Supreme Court permanently revoked Penrod’s law license in November 2024.)

Losses covered and limits

The fund does not reimburse for losses resulting from negligence, fee disputes or malpractice, and business or investment relationships are not covered. The reimbursement is limited to actual losses and does not cover damages, expenses incurred or lost interest.

Payments are capped at $5,000 for fees paid to a lawyer who performed no services. For cases of misappropriated money, a client may recover the actual amount, with a maximum of $250,000.

A claim must be filed within three years of the final disciplinary action or the lawyer’s death.

For more information, call The Florida Bar’s Attorney/Consumer Assistance Program at 866-352-0707 or go to https://www.floridabar.org/public/acap/assistance.

Some Penrod claims approved

At least five claims against Penrod have been either approved or paid, said Jennifer Krell Davis, director of communications for The Florida Bar.

Two misappropriation claims have been paid in the maximum amount of $250,000 each, Davis said by email. The program has paid fee claims for $3,995 and $2,200, and another fee claim of $1,750 fee has been approved but not paid, Davis said.

The names and other identifying details of claimants remain confidential unless specific written permission has been granted, Davis said.

Civil lawsuits another option

At least one civil lawsuit has been filed against Penrod.

Even before his arrest, the adult offspring of a client sued Penrod in the 10th Judicial Circuit. Charles Anderson and Sherry Prevoznik accused Penrod of stealing nearly $1.8 million from the trust fund of their father, David D. Anderson, who died in 2021.

In June, Judge Michael McDaniel issued an order granting partial summary judgment and damages of $1.75 million. It is not clear if any money is available to be claimed.

Neither Prevoznik nor the lawyer who filed the suit responded to messages from The Ledger. 

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After Polk County lawyer stole millions, is there any hope of compensation? 

Former Delaware County attorney guilty of stealing more than $100,000 from clients

by Dean Narciso

A Delaware County attorney was sentenced Monday to 2½ years of community control and ordered to repay his former clients more than $100,000 for work he never completed.

The Ohio Supreme Court last year suspended Robert M. Owens indefinitely, after evidence showed that he had bilked clients out of thousands of dollars and lied to them about work promised to them. He was accused of "deceitful and dishonest conduct, failing to communicate and failing to provide a timely refund to four separate clients," according to the complaint filed by the court-appointed Ohio Board of Professional Conduct.

He was later indicted in Delaware County on five theft charges, fourth and fifth-degree felonies.

In May, Owens pleaded guilty to each of the counts. But that was after he told The New America conservative podcast host that charges were fabricated in part due to his unsuccessful 2010 bid for Ohio Attorney General in which now Gov. Mike DeWine defeated him.

"Ever since then, he's used his pressure to come after me and constantly harass me ... tens of thousands of dollars in fees to fight off all kinds of spurious charges."

Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge David M. Gormley rejected Owens' excuses and suggested he find a good job in order to pay restitution of almost $122,000 to six victims. He also denied a motion for intervention in lieu of conviction that would have prevented Owens from having a felony record.

Client trust funds are commonly used by attorneys for retainers and to manage cash flow, and help firms avoid mingling client funds with law firm funds. They are not controlled by the court.

Mismanagement of such trust accounts is "one of the most common ethical violations committed by lawyers," according to Investopedia, a financial media website.

Owens, whose billing rate was $300 per hour, in 2021 closed his practice in downtown Delaware, telling some of his clients that he was dealing with "deep depression" following the death of his father, court records state. He began his law practice in 1998.

In a 2015 story about attorneys use of polygraphs in weeding out clients who might lie, Owens said of the practice: "Usually, we’re talking about very serious crimes where the client’s entire life is going to be in the balance."

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Former Delaware County attorney guilty of stealing more than $100,000 from clients

Disbarred Chesco Attorney Pleads Guilty To Stealing From Clients

(Holly Herman/Patch Staff)

by Holly Herman, Patch Staff 

WEST CHESTER — A 61-year-old disbarred attorney pleaded guilty in the Chester County Justice Center to theft of over $1 million from former law clients.

Thomas Schindler remains free on $50,000 bail to await sentencing for failing to plead guilty to theft from former clients who fired him for their divorce.

Schindler was charged with theft of nearly $1 million from former clients who hired him for a divorce case, according to prosecutors.

The charges stemmed from a 2018 financial agreement where he failed to make required transfers of proceeds from the sale of their Easttown Township home.

“Thomas Schindler misused his power and took advantage of his clients at vulnerable times in their lives,” Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said.

“They came to him looking for guidance, and he betrayed that trust for his own selfish gain. It is especially disheartening when those who take an oath to uphold the law are the ones who violate it.”

According to prosecutors:

In November 2021, detectives received a complaint regarding retainer money given to the defendant by a client who hired him as a defense attorney.

The victim paid the defendant $95,000 in August 2019 for representation in a criminal matter.

Detectives discovered that the victim was never paid the $84,000 balance owed to him at the time of the defendant’s disbarment despite numerous attempts and requests by the victim and his new attorney.

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Disbarred Chesco Attorney Pleads Guilty To Stealing From Clients

Marianna lawyer charged with stealing $60,000 from clients

Gilbert is accused of stealing money from clients.(MPD)

By WCTV Staff

MARIANNA, Fla (WCTV) – A former attorney is under arrest, accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from clients.

Marianna Police say LaDray Gilbert faces charges of grand theft and money laundering.

Investigators say Gilbert failed to provide settlement funds to clients of his law firm, The Gilbert Firm, P.A.

Detectives say Gilbert moved money out of a trust account for his personal benefit, stealing a total of more than $60,000 from the victims. Police say Gilbert would write checks or have checks written directly from the trust to himself.

Sometimes, multiple checks were written on the same date, totaling more than $10,000.

Police say Gilbert turned himself in at the Jackson County jail on Tuesday and is awaiting the first appearance.

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Marianna lawyer charged with stealing $60,000 from clients

Officials:Dickson attorney stole $1 Million from child of Tennessee trooper killed on duty

DICKSON, Tenn. (WZTV) — A Dickson attorney is accused in a million-dollar scheme, including stealing $1.1 million from a minor whose Tennessee trooper father was killed in the line of duty.

Attorney Jackie Lynn Garton, 54, is charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and tax fraud related to an 8-year long scheme stealing money from clients and law partners.

The scheme lasted from 2009 to 2017, according to middle Tennessee's U.S. District Attorney's office.

Officials said Garton acted as a trustee and removed over $1.1 million from the trust of a minor whose Tennessee trooper father was killed in the line of duty.

Documents say Garton withdrew funds from clients’ accounts without their permission and deposited the stolen funds into his personal bank accounts. He's also accused of trying to defraud the IRS of $350,000.

If convicted, Garton faces 25 years in prison and a $750,000 fine in addition to paying restitution to the victims. 

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Officials:Dickson attorney stole $1 Million from child of Tennessee trooper killed on duty

Florida Lawyer Gets 15 Years in Prison for Swiping $2 Million From Disabled Clients

Former Tampa attorney David Land Whigham’s mugshot.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Christopher Nash handed down a 15-year prison sentence to former Tampa defense lawyer David Land Whigham, who pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $2 million from clients.

Whigham, 51, will also have to pay restitution. He once specialized in wills, trusts and estate planning, often representing charities and disabled litigants through his firm, the Whigham Law Group. Many of his clients had sought help paying for medical care or making arrangements to have savings go to charities after they died.

But court documents show the Florida Bar discovered he’d overstepped his bounds in 2016, when the Bank of Tampa flagged strange activity in his trust accounts.

According to the bar’s petition for disciplinary revocation, Whigham failed to distribute more than $900,000 to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children and a schizophrenia research foundation in Massachusetts, as a client had requested before his death in 2011.

Whigham was suspended, then disbarred and charged with 22 counts of grand theft and organized fraud.

An investigation ensued, led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which found at least nine victims had lost money to Whigham — which news outlets report he spent on his mortgage, vacations, shooting and hunting trips, restaurant meals, fishing and his family’s personal expenses. In November 2017, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of grand theft.

Whigham’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Joseph Larrinaga Jr., had asked for less than the 11 years recommended by state guidelines, highlighting that his client had been diagnosed with major depression and alcoholism. Larrinaga did not respond to requests for comment before deadline.

Whigham reportedly told the court he couldn’t explain his decisions, adding, “I promise the court I’ll dedicate the rest of my life to making restitution.”

Marisa L. Pupello represented the state and had asked for 20 years plus restitution. She did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.

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Florida Lawyer Gets 15 Years in Prison for Swiping $2 Million From Disabled Clients

Disgraced Tampa lawyer faces prison for stealing $2 million from clients

David Land Whigham, 51, sits in a Hillsborough County courtroom Friday during his sentencing hearing. Whigham was a Hyde Park lawyer who handled estates and trusts and admitted stealing more than $2 million from his clients. He has been stripped of his law license and now faces up to 20 years in state prison [Photo courtesy of WTVT-Fox 13]

TAMPA — David Land Whigham wanted all his life to be an attorney. Six years after graduating law school, with the help of a family loan, he established his own firm in upscale Hyde Park, specializing in estates, wills and trusts.

Some of his clients were parents whose children were physically disabled and needed help paying for medical treatments. Others were people who wanted to leave their savings to charity after they died.

In a courtroom on Friday morning, they were called victims.

Over the course of several years, prosecutors said Whigham dipped into his clients' funds to pay his business and personal expenses. All told, he stole $2.2 million.

Whigham, 51, pleaded guilty in November to nine counts of grand theft, one for each former client. A prosecutor asked Friday for a sentence of 20 years in prison, plus restitution.

“These are not your typical victims and the defendant for years on end preyed on them,” Hillsborough Assistant State Attorney Marisa Pupello told the court. “Each of them was personally emotionally harmed.”

Whigham’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Jospeph Larrinaga, asked for a sentence of less than the 11 years in prison suggested by state guidelines. He noted a psychologist's report that Whigham was diagnosed with major depression and alcoholism.

The defendant stood silently throughout the three-hour sentencing hearing Friday, at times breathing deeply, swallowing hard, and closing his eyes. He spoke briefly, struggling to find words that seemed adequate.

“I can’t explain why I made the decisions I did,” he said. “I promise the court I’ll dedicate the rest of my life to making restitution.”

The thefts were uncovered after Whigham repeatedly failed to distribute more than $900,000 that one of his clients held in a trust for a relative. After the relative died in 2011, the money was supposed to be given to the Shriners Hospital for Children and a schizophrenia research foundation.

But for more than five years, representatives from the Shriners repeatedly asked why the hospitals had not received the money. Whigham offered excuses, blamed the accountant in charge of the trust, blamed it on the court clerk, and eventually stopped responding altogether.

In 2016, he admitted to an attorney for the Shriners that the money was gone. When asked where it went, he said he had used it to pay office expenses.

The Florida Bar subsequently suspended his law license. He was later permanently disbarred.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators conducted a year-long probe into Whigham's finances in 2016. They identified nine victims, all of whom had entrusted Whigham with their money.

There was an 11-year-old boy with chronic physical and memory problems due to injuries he suffered after a car accident. Whigham took $216,000 from him.

There was a woman who had been severely disabled since birth, whose medical expenses exceeded $17,000 a month. Whigham took $289,000 from her.

By the time the thefts were discovered, the victims’ accounts had been nearly depleted.

“He chose his victims carefully,” said Special Agent Patty Thompson, who was a state investigator on the case and testified Friday. “He chose these victims because he knew they were vulnerable.”

The lawyer used the stolen funds to pay for his home mortgage, restaurant meals, fishing trips, vacations, hunting and shooting excursions and his family’s personal expenses. Some of the expenses that investigators noted were eye-catching: $11,000 for a hotel stay in Costa Rica; $2,700 to the University of South Florida Bulls Club; $3,800 for firearms ammunition.

Although he offered no explanations, Whigham’s family members gave the court a glimpse at a possible motive.

When he started his law firm, they testified, he did it with a loan from his wife's parents. When his business started to go south, he feared bankruptcy would cause them to lose their home. His family noticed he started drinking more. He seemed depressed.

Near the end, they told the court he tried to pay back some of the money he had taken. But it wasn't nearly enough.

“I believe what happened was a desperate man trying to protect his family,” said Sharon Whigham, his younger sister. “He started acting irrationally and drinking too much ... At some point you realize you're in too deep and there's nothing you can do.”

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Christopher Nash said he would sentence David Whigham on Monday morning.

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Disgraced Tampa lawyer faces prison for stealing $2 million from clients

Las Vegas lawyer pleads guilty to stealing millions from clients

Longtime estate attorney Robert Graham admitted in District Court Thursday to stealing more than $16 million from clients, many of whom relied financially on trust funds he oversaw.

Graham, 52, who is in custody at the Clark County Detention Center on $5 million bail, pleaded guilty before District Judge Kerry Earley to two felony counts of theft and three counts of exploitation of an older/vulnerable person. He faces a prison term of 16 to 40 years at his Jan. 11 sentencing.

“He’s a despicable predatory thief, plain and simple,” District Attorney Steve Wolfson said after the hearing. “He’s going to serve more time in prison than some murderers. As much justice as we could deliver was delivered today.”

Graham wore black reading glasses as he stood before Earley in jail garb and chains to enter his plea.

“I’m guilty of these charges, your honor,” Graham told the judge.

His lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Bryan Cox, added afterward, “It’s been a very difficult case, especially for the victims and the victims’ families.”

In the courtroom, Chief Deputy District Attorney J. P. Raman, the lead prosecutor in the case, read aloud the names of more than 110 clients who deserve a share of the $16 million in restitution prosecutors will seek against Graham.

The money was stolen between 2011 and 2016, Raman said in court papers Thursday.

The thefts — which ranged from as little as $20 to more than $1 million — occurred in 64 estate cases, 21 trust funds, 10 guardianship cases, and four special needs trusts, the court papers show.

Graham’s guilty plea capped a 10-month legal saga that began when he abruptly shut down his Lawyers West office in Summerlin on Dec. 2 after years of looting client funds.

In interviews with the Las Vegas Review-Journal after his indictment earlier this year, former clients described their frustration with Graham as they fought, sometimes desperately, to get him to turn over their funds in the years and final months before he closed his law practice.

Clients lost everything

The victims who lost everything include a wheelchair-bound woman with cerebral palsy and three young children who survived a crash that killed their parents. Some of the victims are expected to testify at Graham’s sentencing.

Graham secretly funneled an average of $187,000 a month in client funds over the years to a special bank account to run his law practice and pay personal bills, grand jury transcripts show.

He used client funds to pay $244,000 in taxes and $700,000 a year in advertising. He also used the money to make thousands of dollars more in charitable donations to numerous organizations,
including the Church of the Latter Day Saints and Boys Town of Nevada, the testimony shows.
Graham, once a regular fixture on local television promoting his law firm, described his practice as a 20-year business failure in a December interview with the Review-Journal.

“I was responsible for the litigation and felt I had no out,” Graham said. “So bit by bit, I moved the chairs on the deck. Each year, things got worse and worse, and I tried to bail myself out and just couldn’t.”

The State Bar of Nevada moved quickly to take control of Graham’s cases after he abandoned his clients in December and obtained a court order for his temporary suspension.

Assistant Bar Counsel Janeen Isaacsonhas since asked the Nevada Supreme Court to permanently disbar Graham.

“He stole millions of dollars to feed his ego and desires for wealth and power, and he used his law license to do it,” Isaacson said at a recent disciplinary hearing.

Several former clients filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against Lawyers West in December seeking the firm’s remaining assets.

But lawyers for the clients have admitted there is slim chance of recovering the missing funds. In Bankruptcy Court papers, Lawyers West listed $8.7 million in liabilities and only $438,000 in assets, mostly in unpaid legal fees unlikely to be collected.

Wolfson said Thursday that obtaining restitution from Graham in the criminal case also will be difficult because of his lack of assets.

“The odds of recovering anything significant are probably not very likely,” he said.

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Las Vegas lawyer pleads guilty to stealing millions from clients

Newark law firm partners indicted in theft of $140,000

Richard Roberts

A Grand Jury has indicted two suspended attorneys, partners in a former Newark law firm, in connection with allegedly stealing more than $140,000 from clients, according to Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino.

Richard M. Roberts, 79, of Bloomfield, and Gerald M. Saluti Jr., 49, of Howell, on Wednesday were charged with second-degree conspiracy, second-degree theft by failure to make required disposition of property received; third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution, and third-degree perjury.

Roberts, as a prosecutor in the 1970s, obtained an indictment against Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas, according to the Associated Press. Roberts was portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 2007 film about the case, “American Gangster."

From October 2012 to August 2013, Roberts and Saluti allegedly conspired to steal more than $140,000 from four clients whose funds had been placed in the firm’s attorney trust account.

Gerald Saluti Jr

The funds allegedly included settlement awards owed to the clients and monies the lawyers were obligated to hold in escrow or use to make payments on behalf of the clients.

In addition to allegedly misappropriating funds to pay the firm’s expenses, Roberts and Saluti allegedly used funds to pay their personal expenses, including car payments, credit card bills and entertainment expenses. Roberts used $20,000 in stolen funds to make alimony payments, authorities alleged.

The hindering and perjury charges relate to allegations that Roberts and Saluti falsely told law enforcement and testified under oath that the practice administrator for their firm, Gabriel Iannacone, was solely responsible for the misappropriation of certain client funds from the attorney trust account.

It was alleged that, in fact, Roberts and Saluti conspired with Iannacone in those improper withdrawals and payments.

Ianncone pleaded guilty on Jan. 23 to third-degree conspiracy to commit theft by failure to make required disposition of property received. His sentencing is pending.

The Division of Criminal Justice’s investigation was ongoing, and additional charges may be filed against Roberts and Saluti, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Both attorneys are suspended from the practice of law in New Jersey. Roberts was suspended in November 2015, and Saluti in February 2014.

In August 2013, the men dissolved Roberts & Saluti LLC, which did business as the Saluti Law Group.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Lydon presided over the indictment and assigned the case to Morris County, where Roberts and Saluti will be ordered to appear in court at a later date for arraignment.

Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

In April, Roberts pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of failing to pay payroll taxes and one count of failing to pay personal income taxes. Sentencing in that case is scheduled for Aug. 1.

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Newark law firm partners indicted in theft of $140,000