An Alicante lawyer accepted on Monday a sentence totaling two years in prison for keeping the money a client paid him without taking any action. The defendant did not merely fail to intervene in the process; he also manipulated documents, claiming that the case had been dismissed thanks to his efforts. The court described his behavior as a serious breach of professional duties, plotting to keep the client’s funds while offering a false sense of legal progress. The trial concluded with a guilty plea, and he presented a medical report to support the claim that he suffered from a gambling disorder that affected his faculties. The judge weighed the medical testimony alongside the acknowledgment of wrongdoing as part of the resolution.
The Public Prosecutor had sought a total of six years in prison for a continuing offense of misappropriation combined with a charge of professional dishonesty and another count tied to falsification of an official document. After the agreement, the state prosecutor introduced two mitigating factors, one for the defendant’s addiction and another for undue delays, for the years since the initial filing. With these reductions, the penalties became one year and nine months for the principal crime and three months for the second, plus the payment of fines. It is noted that the defendant already has other prior convictions for similar acts within that time frame, highlighting a troubling pattern that investigators and courts often scrutinize when deciding on sentencing. The arrangement reflects how plea deals can reshape the landscape of penalties, balancing accountability with considerations from the defense and the court.
Provisions of funds
The lawyer admitted that he had kept 1,500 euros from a woman who had hired him to represent her in two matters that he did not undertake. First, in November 2017, the client engaged him to defend her in a fraud case. For this purpose she provided a fund of 600 euros. The lawyer did not even appear in the proceeding until February 2018, when he was not allowed to participate because the case had already been archived in December 2016. Nevertheless, he told his client that the case had been dismissed thanks to his actions and did not return the money handed over.
When the client pressed for documentation to confirm his claims, the lawyer handed over a supposed order of filing that supported his allegations, but it was a document he had drafted himself.
Later the client hired him again to file a lawsuit alleging a violation of her right to honor against the complainants from the earlier case. For this, she supplied 900 euros to the attorney, who kept the money without filing any claim. It was only after this pattern of behavior came to light that the full scope of the misconduct emerged.