By PoliceOne Staff
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Tennessee attorney is facing more than 20 years in prison for years-long schemes that allowed him to steal $1.3 million, including $1.1 million from the daughter of a fallen LEO, the Tennessean reports.
Attorney Jacki Lynn Garton, 54, has been charged with aggravated identity theft, wire fraud and tax fraud related to schemes while practicing probate law in Dickson, Tennessee.
According to documents in FBI and IRS investigations, Garton was appointed to manage the trust fund of the daughter of a fallen Tennessee State Trooper who was killed after a tractor-trailer hit him as he stood near a parked patrol car. Garton removed $1.1 million from the account over the course of 2009 to 2017.
Garton also withdrew funds from other clients’ accounts without their permission and deposited the stolen funds into his personal bank accounts. He used the stolen money for personal use and concealed portions of his income from the IRS and his law partners, intending to defraud the IRS of $350,000.
If Garton is convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on wire transfer charges, an additional mandatory two-year sentence on aggravated identity theft charges and up to three years on tax fraud charges.
