NC State Bar files complaint against lawyer accused of preying on wrongly imprisoned men
A Florida lawyer defrauded, deceived and embezzled funds from two mentally disabled clients who were declared innocent after spending 31 years in prison, according to a complaint filed Wednesday by the North Carolina State Bar.
Posted — UpdatedHenry McCollum and his half-brother, Leon Brown, were exonerated in 2014 after serving decades in prison for the notorious rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl.
The North Carolina State Bar charged that Orlando lawyer Patrick Megaro took excessive fees when he pocketed a third of each award despite having done virtually no work on their exonerations or compensation cases.
The complaint portrays two vulnerable men —“McCollum and Brown have IQs in the 50s,” the bar wrote—who were exploited by a lawyer required to act in their best interest.
The complaint lists 16 separate ethical violations.
Megaro allegedly lied to federal and state judges, double-billed his clients and misused trust funds.
Reached by telephone Wednesday, McCollum said he’s unhappy with his former lawyer.
“He took money that he should have never took” McCollum said. “I could have that money right now.”
Wednesday’s complaint begins a legal process similar to a civil lawsuit that will likely culminate in a public trial of the charges, with three lawyers from the state’s Disciplinary Hearing Commission sitting as judge and jury.
The most serious consequence would be disbarment, the likely end of a career for a lawyer.
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