LANSING, MI (WTVB) – A disbarred attorney from Coldwater has entered guilty pleas in Kalamazoo County to four counts of Larceny of $20,000 or More and two counts of Taxes-Failure to File/False Return.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says 63-year-old James O’Briant had access to the victim’s money through his employment under a licensed attorney who had a representation agreement with the 95-year-old victim and agreed to temporarily hold their money in the law firm’s trust account for safekeeping.
Nessel says O’Briant transferred the victim’s money from the trust account to the firm’s business accounts and then withdrew and transferred the money again to use for his own purposes. Those transfers included over $40,000 to O’Briant’s personal investment accounts.
O’Briant did not report the money he stole from the victim on his 2018 and 2019 taxes.
The plea agreement requires O’Briant to pay restitution of over $154,000 to the victim by the end of April, and to agree to pay restitution of over $13,000 to the Michigan Department of Treasury.
O’Briant will be permitted to be sentenced on one count of Larceny $20,000 or More and one count of Taxes-Failure to File/False Return, and the remaining charges would be dismissed only if the terms of the plea agreement are met.
Sentencing is set for May 6, 2024.
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