Suspended Lawyer Found Dead After Failing to Appear for Sentencing in Mail-Fraud Case
Updated: Scheduled to be in federal court in East St. Louis for sentencing today at 9 a.m. in a mail fraud case, an Illinois attorney sent his lawyer a fax at 8 a.m. saying he wouldn’t be there.
The judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Dennis Nalick, 63, and when investigators went to his Edwardsville home to look for him they found him dead in a running vehicle in the garage, according to KDSK.
Authorities say he committed suicide, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Because of his death prior to sentencing, the case will now be dismissed, his lawyer, Chris Threlkeld, tells the newspaper.
An earlier Alton Telegraph article details charges filed against Nalick last year for allegedly misappropriating a $137,826 payment to an elderly woman he knew at church. It was made from her mother’s estate.
Nalick, who had previously been disciplined in 1998 and 2004 was suspended from law practice a year ago on an interim basis pending disposition of an attorney ethics complaint against him, according to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission website.
The Belleville News-Democrat also has a story.
Last updated on July 22 to include information that Nalick’s lawyer expects the case to be dismissed.
