A disbarred Atlanta lawyer convicted of stealing $300,000 from clients was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison.
Thomas W. Dickinson, 53, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in August 2013 and was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release with six months in home confinement and 120 hours of community service, according to the U.S. District Attorney Sally Yates. He will also be required to make restitution.
Dickinson was employed by an Atlanta law firm retained by Idaho-based Tenants In Common, representing it’s interests in a bankruptcy claim. In 2009 he recommended TIC clients transfer income and other assets into the law firm’s trust.
For almost two years, Dickinson instructed his firm’s accounting department to transfer the money, in the total amount of $300,000, to an account he and his wife had control of, fraudulently claiming the transfers were on behalf of TIC.
Dickinson will have to pay $175,951.98 in restitution.
Support real journalism. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. See offers.
Your subscription to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution funds in-depth reporting and investigations that keep you informed. Thank you for supporting real journalism.