Former Cook dinner County decide accused of taking lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} from aged man faces theft, cash laundering costs
A former Cook dinner County decide accused of stealing lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} from the financial institution accounts of an aged former Tuskegee Airman to buy cryptocurrency has been indicted on seven felony counts of theft, cash laundering and monetary exploitation of an aged individual.
The felony costs had been lodged Nov. 9 in opposition to Patricia Martin, who stepped down in 2020 as presiding decide within the Youngster Safety Division of Cook dinner County Circuit Court docket. She’s allowed to stay in Missouri whereas she awaits her subsequent court docket date in December, in accordance with court docket information.
“She had a protracted and distinguished profession, and we anticipate her to be vindicated,” mentioned Martin’s lawyer, Michael Leonard.
The Illinois Legal professional Registration and Disciplinary Fee, which handles allegations of lawyer misconduct, said in a May 31 fraud complaint that Martin stole from Oscar Wilkerson, an aged man whose monetary affairs she was purported to handle. They alleged she used the cash for her personal profit, together with shopping for greater than $100,000 in cryptocurrency in her personal identify.
Wilkerson died in February at 97.
In complete, the lawyer self-discipline grievance alleged Martin took $246,203.80 of Wilkerson’s cash throughout a couple of two-year interval. It additionally accused her of mendacity to Wilkerson and his physician and failing to cooperate with an investigation.
Attorneys for Wilkerson additionally filed a lawsuit in opposition to Martin final 12 months the place a decide ordered a $1.1 million default judgment as a result of Martin’s “continued unresponsiveness” to court docket hearings and orders. Martin has already been disbarred.
Martin’s attorneys are interesting the default judgment.
Martin filed a movement in July to dismiss the judgment, arguing, amongst different points, that Wilkerson’s dying in February left the case with no correct plaintiff.
Mary Wisniewski, a spokesperson for Cook dinner County Chief Decide Timothy Evans’ workplace, mentioned in an announcement that “neither judges nor workers … can touch upon pending or impending circumstances, beneath Illinois Supreme Court docket moral guidelines.”
