Disbarred attorney sentenced for stealing from elderly client

A disbarred Coldwater attorney received a jail sentence and three years of probation for stealing more than $140,000 from a 95-year-old law firm client.

Judge Paul J. Bridenstine of the 9th Circuit Court in Kalamazoo County sentenced James O’Briant to 120 days in the county jail and 36 months of probation, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.

O'Briant also was ordered to pay restitution of $168,067.73.

The previously disbarred attorney had access to the money through his employment under a licensed attorney, per a press release from the Department of Attorney General. That attorney represented the elderly client and agreed to hold temporarily their money in the law firm’s trust account. O’Briant transferred the money from the trust account to the firm’s business accounts and then withdrew and transferred the money again to use for his own purposes. According to the department, the transfers included more than $40,000 to O’Briant’s personal investment accounts; he did not report the money on his taxes in 2018 or 2019.

O’Briant pled guilty to four counts of larceny $20,000 or more and two counts of taxes-failure to file/false return in October 2023.

His plea agreement required him to pay $154,511.73 in restitution to the victim by the end of April and to pay $13,556 in restitution to the Michigan Department of Treasury. In exchange, he would be sentenced on one larceny count and one count of taxes-failure to file/false return with the remaining charges being dismissed.

O’Briant, however, failed to pay the victim by deadline and was sentenced on all six counts.

Copyright © 2024 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.