Law Firms
Ex-Paralegal Pleads Guilty to Stealing $1.7M from Conn. Law Firm
Posted Oct 10, 2008, 06:54 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A former paralegal at a Connecticut law firm has pleaded guilty to stealing $1.7 million from client and firm accounts to pay her gambling debts.
Patricia Baddeley-Meehan stole the money from Berman & Russo in South Windsor to pay off cash advances taken for gambling at various casinos, the Hartford Courant reports. The cash advances were taken on personal credit cards, according to the Connecticut Law Tribune.
Baddeley-Meehan primarily handled real estate closings at the firm, and was authorized to write checks. She pleaded guilty to mail fraud and filing a false income tax return.