L.I. woman pleads guilty to forging checks, stealing cash from disabled clients at her law firm job

She was accused of stealing from people who were paralyzed and amputees. Some were born with Cerebral Palsy. Now she's pled Guilty.Photo byvitor camiloonUnsplash

A Hempstead woman who was fired from her law firm job after more than half a million dollars disappeared from the trust accounts of handicapped clients has pleaded Guilty to Forgery and Grand Larceny -- 8 Felony convictions -- for stealing money out of trust accounts of disabled clients.

Michelle Byrd, 54, stood before Judge Helen Gugerty Monday afternoon and confessed to forging a trustee's signature on checks she wrote to herself at her case manager job when she worked for a Long Island law firm. The firm has not been publicly identified.

Byrd retained New York attorney Xavier Robert Donaldson, Esq. for her defense.

Police say hundreds of unauthorized checks totaling $526,553 were traced back to Byrd. To conceal the thefts, prosecutors say, Byrd also forged bank statements.

In a public statement announcing Byrd's indictment last year, the Nassau County District Attorney described her victims as "adults with Cerebral Palsy, stroke victims, and a woman who had lost her arms and legs due to medical malpractice." One victim lost his house, the DA said, after Byrd withdrew $180,000 from his bank account.

Former case manager Michelle Byrd was charged with 180 counts of forgery committed between April 2014 and March 2021, when she was fired.Photo byGiorgio TrovatoonUnsplash

Investigators said the scheme began April 4, 2014, and went undetected for years.

But seven years later, a $2,500 check made out to Byrd caught the eye of bank officials, who contacted the law firm to verify the payment was legit. An attorney responsible for the trust accounts confirmed the check was indeed unauthorized. Byrd was terminated from her job shortly thereafter.

Then she was arrested.

Byrd was originally indicted on 181 charges in March 2023. This week she took a plea offer from the Nassau County District Attorney's office, entering a Guilty plea to 1 count of Grand Larceny -- a C Felony -- and 6 counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument -- a D Felony.

She faces a maximum of 5 to 15 years in prison when she is sentenced by Judge Gugerty on July 17, 2024.

Nassau County Courthouse, Mineola.Photo byC.J. Teevan