North Carolina Bar Accuses Florida Lawyer of Stealing From 2 Death Row Exonerees
The ABA Journal reports that A Florida lawyer defrauded, deceived and embezzled funds from two mentally disabled clients who were declared innocent after spending 31 years in prison, according to a complaint filed Wednesday by the North Carolina State Bar.
“Henry McCollum and his half-brother, Leon Brown, were exonerated in 2014 after serving decades in prison for the notorious rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. They received $750,000 each from the state in compensation,” writes Joseph Neff for the Marshall Project.
Orlando lawyer Patrick Megaro took excessive fees when he pocketed a third of the awards despite having done virtually no work on their exonerations or compensation cases, the state bar alleges.
