Philly lawyer who stole $100,000 from elderly client to gamble gets 4 years in prison
Conner, 63, was a well-known criminal defense lawyer -- but he also had a gambling problem.
On Thursday, Conner was sentenced in federal court for stealing more than
Conner will serve 46 months in prison; his lawyer
What's so unusual about Conner isn't just that he stole from an elderly client, but that the
Prosecutors said the Conner case is part of a national sweep of financial elder abuse crimes that
"The defendant's conduct in this case was egregious," said McSwain. "Stealing an elderly woman's life savings, gambling it away at casinos, and then lying about it to federal agents -- all as an officer of the court, an attorney who took an oath to act in the best interest of his clients and with a high moral standard."
Although she had suffered a stroke, Fauntleroy's past testimony against Conner was part of the trial.
Conner used her ATM card at casinos to withdraw money from Fauntleroy's bank accounts in the amount of
She was left with
Conner subsequently lied to
"Elder fraud is a pernicious crime, preying on the most vulnerable in society. She trusted him ... and he betrayed that trust," Dubnoff said during the hearing in front of U.S. District Judge
In 2016, Fauntleroy asked her brother for help handling her affairs and health care, and he introduced her to Conner. Fauntleroy was impressed and signed a power-of-attorney agreement that granted Conner authority to manage her finances and pay her bills.
As part of the agreement, Conner promised to keep his assets separate from hers. Shortly after executing the POA, however, Conner added himself as a signatory to a checking account that she maintained at
Conner also opened a joint savings account at Wells Fargo in his and Fauntleroy's names. He then liquidated an annuity she had set up for her niece and deposited the proceeds, which exceeded
Over eight months, Conner used the POA agreement to drain nearly all of Fauntleroy's money from her bank accounts. From
Fauntleroy revoked Conner's POA in
"I'm very happy with the sentence," said Hills, who attended the hearing. "He just stepped in and preyed on her. He didn't have an epiphany about a gambling addiction. He got caught."
Conner testified that the pressure and loneliness of caring for his 95-year-old father seven days a week and running a law practice prompted him to turn to gambling -- in particular, slot machines.
"I'm not a perfect man," he told the judge. "I'm a gambling addict. I gambled my own money until I ran out. Then I used her card. I've learned that a compulsive gambler's judgment is flawed."
Conner "has used this fall from grace to begin his road to recovery," his lawyer wrote in court filings, by enrolling in the Livengrin Center and participating in
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