Attorney in PA kept client’s settlement money from deadly crash for himself, feds say
A Pennsylvania attorney has been charged with wire fraud after he was accused of misappropriating his client’s funds, prosecutors announced in a Jan. 10 news release.
John William “JW” Eddy has been charged with one count of wire fraud. The 39-year-old is expected to plead guilty, according to plea documents.
Eddy was an assistant district attorney for Fayette County, a solicitor for Uniontown and a lawyer at his own practice, court documents showed.
His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.
Eddy was required to keep funds in an Interest on Lawyer Trust Account (IOLTA) for his client’s cases but instead used the money for other purposes, the release said. He is accused of misappropriating $242,975.89 of his client’s funds from 2016 to 2020.
According to court documents, Eddy misappropriated funds from the estate of a car crash victim whose family he was representing in a personal injury lawsuit and told the family a tax issue was holding up their money.
“Over the next several years, the deficit continued to grow steadily due to additional misappropriations,” court documents said.
On various occasions, Eddy spent the money owed to clients that was entrusted to him, according to court documents. He ended up taking out personal loans to repay clients whose funds he used improperly and repaying them the total amount, prosecutors said.
As decided in 2021, but beginning retroactively in 2019, Eddy was suspended from practicing law for three years, according to a disciplinary board with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
During this time, Eddy was struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues. He was arrested in 2019 and charged with a DUI and possession of a controlled substance after he became dependent on opioids after a surgery, according to the disciplinary board and court documents.
According to Eddy’s psychiatrist, “there is a causal relationship between (Eddy’s) diagnosed conditions of depression, anxiety and substance abuse and his professional misconduct.”
He expressed “sincere and genuine remorse” for his actions, the disciplinary board said in the June 2021 documents.
Eddy faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud.
