A former Grundy, Va., lawyer pleaded guilty Monday to stealing more than $175,000 from a late couple’s family trust, and stiffing the federal government out of $250,000 in income taxes.
David Eugene Cecil, 59, was convicted of mail fraud, money laundering and tax evasion in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Va., according to a Department of Justice news release.
The Virginia State Bar revoked his license last year, a month after he was charged with embezzlement by the Virginia State Police, according to State Bar documents.
Cecil was hired in February 2007 to administer the $2 million estate of a Buchanan County doctor named Robert Baxter and his wife, Nancy. In 2007, he met with the Baxter’s daughters and quoted a one-time fee of 2 percent of the estate, $40,000, to liquidate the trusts and distribute the money to the family, the documents show.
Instead, he wrote himself checks in excess of $175,000, according to the release.
In the summer of 2008, the family confronted Cecil about the missing money and he handed over a receipt.
Rather than taking a one-time, 2 percent payment, he took 2 percent of the estate’s value each year he served as trustee and charged the trust $190 an hour for five hours every week of 2007, for a total of $49,400, according to the State Bar documents. Then he continued to charge $190 an hour for two hours a week for every week of 2008 until he was fired in March 2008.
On Monday, Cecil told the court that he deposited that money into various accounts to skirt detection and avoid paying income taxes. In total, he evaded paying $250,000 in federal taxes, according to the news statement. The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit handled the investigation.
“Cecil misused his position of trust and stole a client’s money,” U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy wrote in the statement. “He then tried to hide that money from the federal government. For his repeated acts of dishonesty and fraud, he has been brought to justice.”
Cecil did not respond to a message left at his home.
He is scheduled to be back in court for sentencing at 11 a.m. Jan. 24. He faces up to 45 years in prison and a $1 million fine, though he will likely be sentenced to far less, the news release states.
cgalofaro@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2531
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