A former Boca Raton lawyer who acknowledged stealing nearly $1.2 million of clients' money from a trust account has been sentenced to 15 years of probation, including some house arrest (ouch!), and ordered to repay the money to victims.How much jail time did Richard Bagdasarian, 54, now a convicted felon after pleading guilty to organized scheme to defraud over $50,000—and looting $1.2 million in client funds from his trust account--get: Exactly none. Zero. No time.
Why would the court be so lenient on an admitted thief, who stole so much money from his own clients?
According to his attorney Jeff Brown, the theft was “situational”:
Any lessons here? Well yea! If you are an attorney and steal $1.2 million from you own clients, save enough money to hire Jeff Brown!"Richard Bagdasarian has committed a wrong and and has taken extraordinary steps to make it right," Brown wrote in the court record. "He is a man of great character who experienced a situational occurrence which will not be repeated."
Hat tip: Martha Neil at the ABA Journal:
Fla. Lawyer Gets Probation for $1.2M Client Trust Fund ‘Situational Occurrence’
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