Lawyer jailed for stealing $167K
NORRISTOWN >> Comparing him to a “hardened robber” and giving him at least a year in prison for each client he bilked, a judge said a former Lower Providence lawyer deserved a lengthy term behind bars for stealing $167,871 from clients, some with special needs.
“The betrayal of trust is abhorrent. You violated the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship. You lied and deceived your clients,” Montgomery County Judge Wendy G. Rothstein sternly addressed disgraced lawyer Patrick Joseph Bradley on Thursday as she sentenced him to 17-to34 years in a state correctional facility for stealing from 17 clients.
“You are no different than a hardened thief, robber or burglar. You treated their money and their bank accounts like it was your own ATM. You stole from them for your own personal gain,” Rothstein added. “You stole their sense of security and trust. There is nothing redeeming about how you conducted yourself.”
Bradley, 47, whose law office, Bradley Law LLC, was located in the 3800 block of Germantown Pike, showed no emotion as the sentence was imposed and sheriff’s deputies handcuffed him. Before he learned his fate, Bradley apologized and appeared to weep.
“I ruined people’s lives and it’s taken a long time for me to come to that realization. They trusted me and I let everyone down,” said Bradley, formerly of the 1100 block of Cornwallis Way, Perkiomen Township.
Earlier this year, Bradley pleaded guilty to 80 charges including, theft by unlawful taking, theft
by deception, receiving stolen property, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, deceptive business practices and unauthorized practice of law in connection with incidents that occurred between 2013 and 2016.
Specifically, Bradley admitted to stealing $126,939 from six clients whose trusts he had administered and $40,932 from 11 other clients who paid Bradley for legal work that was never completed.
The clients who were victimized by Bradley resided in Montgomery, Berks and Chester counties, according to investigators.
“This was a deep and pervasive deception of people who were so vulnerable. He left people high and dry. The victims all expressed they were anxious and upset and felt they were taken advantage of,” said Assistant District Attorney Kelli McGinnis, who sought a lengthy prison term against Bradley. “He was manipulative and he needs to be held accountable for everything.”
McGinnis said Bradley was put in a position of trust, or worked himself into a position of trust, and he took advantage of some good people who were trying to take care of loved ones by establishing trusts for their ongoing care.
One disabled woman who came to court in a motorized wheelchair testified she paid Bradley $10,000 for legal work that was not completed.
“It was very stressful for me. He is a very manipulative person. He basically threw me under the bus. I didn’t appreciate that at all,” the woman told the judge.
In a letter read in court, a Souderton woman said she suffered panic attacks and anxiety when Bradley stole $40,000 from her after she sought his legal services.
“He is a liar and a thief,” the woman wrote to the judge.
Defense lawyer George Griffith Jr. asked the judge to limit Bradley’s time in prison so that he can pay restitution. Griffith argued that before Bradley experienced financial difficulties he was a lawyer in good standing for 10 years.
“This is not a man who was a career criminal. He was a man who fell on hard times,” said Griffith, adding Bradley did not live an extravagant lifestyle but used the money to pay his mortgage during financial difficulties and that his conduct spiraled out of control.
The judge ordered Bradley, who most recently resided along Shiffer Road in Stroudsburg, Monroe County, to pay full restitution in connection with the case.
Some of the victims previously sought assistance from the Pennsylvania Lawyers Fund for Client Security, which was established in 1982 to reimburse clients who have suffered losses as a result of the misappropriation of funds by their lawyers. The fund does not receive tax dollars and its sole source of revenue is an annual fee that every lawyer pays to be licensed to practice in Pennsylvania.
Because five of the victims were over the age of 60, Bradley, under state law, faced one-year mandatory prison terms for offenses committed against those clients.
McGinnis, who was assisted at trial by co-prosecutor Lindsey Mills, alleged Bradley stole monies from special needs clients and their families and used it to pay for his personal bills, such as his home mortgage, restaurant meals and movie tickets.
Prosecutors alleged Bradley, through his law firm, established and managed special needs trust agreements for clients, established himself as the sole trustee and then used assets in the accounts for his own benefit. Additionally, Bradley was paid by other clients to provide legal services in obtaining orders and guardianships for their special needs relatives and failed to perform the necessary legal work, instead using funds for his own personal use.
Additional victims claimed they suffered losses after paying for legal work that was not performed or not fully performed.
McGinnis praised county Detective Jean Morrison for her investigation that included poring over mountains of legal and financial documents and bank records to uncover the thefts. McGinnis added the Pennsylvania Office of Disciplinary Counsel also provided important information during the investigation.
The investigation of Bradley began when the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, an arm of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which protects the public by investigating complaints against lawyers, investigated a complaint from a client of Bradley’s who allegedly paid him for legal work in 2013 that was never completed.
Even after Bradley was suspended, the disciplinary board received complaints Bradley was still engaging in the practice of law and holding himself out as an attorney in good standing, prosecutors alleged.
State officials filed a contempt petition against Bradley and on Sept. 15, 2016, Bradley was “disbarred on consent” after he agreed to resign from the bar, testimony revealed.