Patricia Baddeley Meehan, 44, handled real estate closings for Berman & Russo and reportedly wrote 77 checks to herself from a client funds account. She is accused of using the money she stole from the firm to pay the personal credit card charges with which she financed her gambling and lavish lifestyle, according to the Hartford Courant.
She pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges of mail fraud and filing a false tax return.
Such cases are surprisingly common, as indicated in previous ABAJournal.com posts, and new charges were announced this week against at least two other law firm employees.
In North Carolina, a Rowan County grand jury indicted Kimberly "Kim" Osborne on a charge of felony embezzlement, reports the Salisbury Post. She is accused of stealing $142,414 while working for attorney James Oxendine in 2007.
And in Oklahoma, a federal grand jury has handed down a wire fraud charge against Anna Jolene Chesnut, reports the Durant Daily Democrat.
The 62-year-old woman is accused of stealing a total of more than $110,000 from estate and trust accounts while working as a legal assistant to attorney Mark Morrison.