PUEBLO, Colo.—A Pueblo lawyer who was disbarred over accusations that he took clients’ money without providing promised work has been sentenced to two years in a community corrections facility, 10 years of probation and 2,000 hours of community service.
Kirk Patterson Brown, 64, was sentenced Wednesday by District Judge Thomas Flesher. Brown pleaded guilty in February to one count of theft of between $500 and $15,000, a felony, in a deal with prosecutors.
Authorities say Brown accepted retainers from 12 clients and did little or no work in return. He also allegedly deposited the money in his firm’s operating account when he was supposed to put it a trust until he was finished with the work.
Brown was disbarred over the allegations in May 2008. He had been practicing law in Pueblo since 1971.
The Colorado Supreme Court Attorney’s Fund for Client Protection has reimbursed Brown’s former clients $270,000. Flesher ordered Brown to repay that amount as restitution, plus an annual 12 percent interest rate.
His community corrections sentence is set to begin May 21.
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Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain,
