The Chicago U.S. attorney’s office has been contacted by a paralegal accused of stealing more than $600,000 from Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s bankruptcy estate accounts.
In May, Becky Louise Sutton, 66, entered a not-guilty plea to numerous counts of wire fraud and embezzlement. However, on Friday, the prosecution informed U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman that Sutton had asked for “the government to submit a proposed plea offer.”
The Chicago U.S. attorney’s office has been contacted by a paralegal accused of stealing more than $600,000 from Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s bankruptcy estate accounts.
In May, Becky Louise Sutton, 66, entered a not-guilty plea to numerous counts of wire fraud and embezzlement. However, on Friday, the prosecution informed U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman that Sutton had asked for “the government to submit a proposed plea offer.”
In order to craft a plea agreement and decide whether this case may be settled before trial, prosecutors claimed they would need more time. Feinerman mandated on Monday that Sutton and the prosecution provide a report to him by January 12.
Gal Pissetzky of Pissetzky Law, Sutton’s legal counsel, and a representative for the U.S. attorney’s office both declined to comment.
Authorities claimed Sutton siphoned $682,980 from the firm’s bankruptcy estate accounts that were meant for creditors and transferred the money to her personal credit card, bank, and PayPal accounts, as well as her mortgage and student loan accounts.
From 2009 through 2018, Sutton worked with a partner of a law firm as a paralegal on Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, according to the indictment.
Although the partner and company were not specifically mentioned in the indictment, a Saul Ewing spokeswoman verified her prior employment there. In a previous statement, the company claimed that it had assisted law enforcement “and ensured that any impacted clients did not suffer any losses.”