Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Attorney Who Gave Up Bar Ticket Pending Accusations Of Misappropriating Client Cash, Fraud, Forgery. Etc. Cops Plea In Unrelated Case For Stealing Ex-Boyfriend's $1M+ Home; Dodges Prison Time (Gets 3-Year Deferred Sentence) By Agreeing To Give Him His House Back

In Claremore, Oklahoma, The Oklahoman reports:
  • A former Delaware County attorney charged with stealing a $1 million Grand Lake home from her ex-boyfriend received a three-year deferred sentence, District Attorney Kenny Wright said [].

    Betty Pitts-Cartwright, 61, of Afton, pleaded no contest [] to obtaining property by fraud. The court found her guilty, and she received the deferred sentence and agreed to relinquish any claim to the residence and its contents, Wright said.

    Pitts-Cartwright also pleaded guilty to perjury and received a three-year deferred sentence. Two other perjury counts were dismissed, Wright said.

    Rogers County Special Judge Stephen Pazzo held the hearing in Claremore after Delaware County judges recused themselves from the proceedings.

    Julie Anne Pitts, 37, of Langley, Pitts-Cartwright’s daughter, and Heather Hogshooter, 25, of Spavinaw, a former employee, also were charged with obtaining property by fraud, Wright said. Charges were dismissed against Pitts under a two-year deferred prosecution agreement. She agreed to relinquish any claim to the house and its contents. Hogshooter received a nine-month deferred prosecution agreement.

    The three women prepared a phony land deed and a bogus Oklahoma corporation to obtain ownership of a 5,500-square-foot, four-bedroom waterfront residence that sits along an 18-hole golf course, prosecutors said.

    The residence belonged to Tor Staubo, a Norwegian professional boat racer, who was involved in a romantic relationship with Cartwright from the summer of 2011 to August 2012.

    Staubo paid $1.2 million in cash for the luxurious Grand Lake residence, then spent $250,000 to furnish the residence, according to an arrest affidavit. He became aware of the wrongdoing after receiving an anonymous letter saying Pitts was the homeowner, the affidavit states.

    Pitts-Cartwright resigned June 24 from the Oklahoma Bar Association pending disciplinary proceedings related to failure to communicate with clients, failure to appear on behalf of clients, failure to file pleadings, misappropriation of client funds, fraud and forgery.

    Cartwright faces a civil case in Delaware County regarding the residence.
Source: Ex-attorney pleads no contest in Oklahoma property fraud case (Former lawyer Betty Pitts-Cartwright, 61, pleaded no contest Friday to obtaining property by fraud, and also pleaded guilty to perjury. She was charged with stealing a $1 million Grand Lake home from her ex-boyfriend).