Doctor shot in prison riot sues lawyer, says attorney error kept him out of minimum security camp
A onetime Florida plastic surgeon shot in the neck in a Mississippi prison riot after he took a plea in a pill mill case has sued his own lawyer, contending that the attorney should have anticipated a need to provide proof of his naturalized U.S. citizenship to federal officials.
Because of the alleged error by Florida attorney Bruce Lyons, contends Patrick Graham in his Palm Beach County Circuit Court suit, he was sent to a dangerous facility for illegal immigrants in Mississippi rather than a minimum-security prison camp housing fellow white-collar criminals, the Palm Beach Post reports.
Filed this week, the suit says Graham should have been better represented after paying Lyons $150,000 and contends that the physician finally persuaded federal officials to send him to a minimum-security prison camp in Florida after his son, who is an attorney, and other lawyers provided the feds with proof of his U.S. citizenship.
Lyons told the newspaper he was stunned by the suit, said he had negotiated a good deal for Graham in the criminal case. He also pointed out that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons determines where inmates serve their time, regardless even of what a judge might think best.
An earlier Palm Beach Post article provides additional details about the criminal case against Graham.
