William O’Brien, 60, will have to pay close to $20,000 in restitution to trusts and estates and will have one year of supervised release after his prison time. U.S. District Judge J. Garvan Murtha sentenced him Wednesday in Brattleboro.
According to prosecutors, O’Brien improperly removed $250,000 to $550,000 from accounts he represented.
He was a longtime lawyer whose clients included the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington and the city of Winooski. The Vermont Supreme Court issued an order suspending O’Brien’s license to practice law in January after he pleaded guilty to a felony count of mail fraud in November.
The charges point to misleading financial reports provided to the Chittenden County Probate Court for several trusts O’Brien managed.
The probate court appointed him as trustee of the Thelma F. Provost trust in 2001, granting him the responsibility to make charitable contributions and manage the fund. O’Brien made 16 contributions between 2008 and 2013 totaling $97,500, according to court filings in October. Between 2007 and 2015, O’Brien diverted about $270,000 for his benefit by writing checks to his law firm, according to court records.
He also served as a lawyer for Paul Bonnette, who died in 2011. O’Brien used more than $100,000 of Bonnette’s money for personal use, reallocating money intended for a charity into his attorney trust account, according to court documents.
Scott McGee, O’Brien’s attorney, said Thursday that the sentence was fair.
“We had asked for a non-incarcerative sentence, but the judge decided on 14 months, and we accept that,” he said.
A call to the U.S. attorney’s office seeking comment from Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Waples was referred to spokesman Kraig LaPorte. LaPorte said the office would have no further comment beyond the news release.
O’Brien is to begin serving his sentence Sept. 5 at a minimum-security facility as close to Vermont as possible. His restitution payment is due as an immediate lump sum.
O’Brien remains free under conditions for now.
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