Ex-Lawyer Gets Two Years Prison Time For Fleecing Clients Of Over $400K; Ordered To Make "Best Efforts" To Reimburse Clients' Security Fund For Cash It Forked Over To Screwed Over Victims

In New Haven, Connecticut, the New Haven Register reports:

• Former New Haven attorney Terence Hawkins has been sentenced to serve two years in prison and repay more than $400,000 in restitution for funds he stole from his clients, officials said.
  
  In New Haven Superior Court [], Judge Philip A. Scarpellino sentenced Hawkins to 10 years in prison, execution suspended after 2 years served, and 5 years’ probation, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
  
  Hawkins, 60, of Court Street, New Haven, was ordered to make “best efforts” to pay $414,674 in restitution to the state’s Client Security Fund,(1) which has reimbursed some of the clients whose funds were embezzled. In addition, conditions of his probation include doing 100 hours of community service, according to the release.
  
  Hawkins, who previously surrendered his license to practice law, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree larceny. He was arrested following an investigation by the Statewide Prosecution Bureau in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney into a complaint by the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel in the Judicial Branch.
  
  According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the investigation put the amount client funds misappropriated by Hawkins “in the range of approximately $450,000 to $500,000.”
  
  The Statewide Prosecution Bureau of the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.

Source: Former New Haven attorney gets 2 years for theft.

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(1) The Client Security Fund was established by the Judges of the Connecticut Superior Court to provide reimbursement to individuals who have lost money or property as a result of the dishonest conduct of an attorney practicing law in the State of Connecticut, in the course of an attorney-client relationship. The fund provides a remedy for clients who are unable to obtain reimbursement from any other source.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that attempt to clean up the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (August 2016) (includes a listing for Canadian client protection funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.