Fake lawyer ran scam, officials say

As many as “dozens” of victims were scammed by a Houston man allegedly pretending to be a lawyer, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said Friday in a news release.

A woman contacted the State Bar of Texas after paying $500 to a business called “Ruben Cartwright Law Firm” to help her with a divorce.

That business, however, was run by neither Ruben Cartwright nor an actual law firm, authorities said. Instead, 73year-old John B. Kennedy had stolen Cartwright’s identity and was pretending to be a lawyer, according to the DA’s office.

Authorities raided Kennedy’s office Thursday morning, arresting Kennedy. He now faces multiple felony charges relating to identity fraud and his misrepresentation as a lawyer, the DA’s office said.

An actual Reuben Cartwright — with a slightly different spelling of his first name — is licensed to do law in Texas after graduating from Texas Southern University in 2012, state bar records show.

Kennedy, on the other hand, ran what the DA’s office called a “fake law office” at 921 Farm-to-Market Road 1960 in north Harris County near Spring. Calls seeking comment Friday from the purported law firm went straight to voicemail.

Kennedy has a history of criminal charges dating back to at least 2009, Harris County court records show.

He pleaded guilty in 2012 to another charge that he had pretended to be a lawyer and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

He was a free man by 2015, however, when he was accused of violating his parole, according to court records.

This time, Kennedy is “accused of not providing legal services after being paid” by clients, the DA’s office said in its news release. The DA’s office is unsure how many people were victimized but estimated “dozens,” citing a “preliminary investigation.”

Authorities said anyone who is concerned they might have fallen for Kennedy’s alleged scam should contact the DA’s Financial Crimes Division at 713-274-5555.