Disbarred lawyer siphoned $500K intended for a client disabled in a car crash, Montco DA says
Originally Published: Aug 20, 2020 | Republished by LIT; Oct 20, 2020
Michael Bradley was supposed to be the legal steward of insurance payments for a client who suffered debilitating injuries from a car crash.
Instead, prosecutors said Thursday, more than half of that settlement money paid for a new driveway at the Warrington attorney’s home, family vacations to Key West, $10,000 worth of plastic surgery, and nearly 1,000 Amazon purchases.
Bradley, 50, was disbarred in 2019 over the alleged theft. Now, after months of investigation, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele has filed multiple felony fraud charges against him.
“The defendant’s theft of more than half a million dollars — funds that were dedicated to helping his client receive the care he needed to live — which he used to pay for extravagant goods and vacations is not only illegal but disturbing on a basic human level,” Steele said.
Steele’s office began investigating the case after Bradley was disbarred. County detectives discovered that Bradley had allegedly comingled the payments intended for his client into an account his law firm used for other clients, and also used the money to pay personal expenses.
The withdrawals from that account were used for, among other things, paying the mortgage on Bradley’s home in Bucks County, tuition and student-loan payments for his children, and various charges at restaurants and businesses near Warrington, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Bradley’s arrest.
Bradley’s attorney, William J. Brennan, said Wednesday that “it’s important to remember that he’s presumed innocent.”
“I’ve known Mr. Bradley for over 30 years,” Brennan said. “He’s been totally cooperative with this investigation, and when I have the opportunity to review the discovery in this case, we will decide on an appropriate way to resolve this matter.”
In September 2012, Branden Thornton, then 18, was struck by a vehicle as he walked along Gulph Road in Upper Merion Township. The crash caused a traumatic brain injury and put Thornton in a coma for nearly three months, according to investigators. His injuries left him with “a lifelong dependence on others for care and many daily activities,” including 18 hours of daily supervision, the affidavit said.
Thornton’s mother hired Bradley to deal with the civil case related to the crash, as well as handle dealings with the insurance companies issuing payments on behalf of the driver. From 2014 to 2017, more than $1 million was deposited into an account Bradley’s law firm maintained, and the money was supposed to be given to Thornton’s family to help pay for his care, the affidavit said.
Instead, investigators found that Thornton’s mother, Tammy Howard, only received about $267,000 during that time. In May 2017, Howard called Bradley to ask about the payments. The attorney told Howard her insurance company had withdrawn the remaining funds meant for her son’s care.
Howard immediately became suspicious, according to the affidavit.
“I know insurance can’t just do that,” she told investigators. “I didn’t get any type of paperwork saying they were doing this.”
After months of trying to resolve the situation, Howard filed a complaint with the Disciplinary Board of the state Supreme Court. During the board’s investigation, an attorney representing Bradley said he was unfamiliar with the rules for handling payments to clients in such cases, according to the affidavit in the criminal case.
The lawyer also told the board that Bradley had developed an opioid dependency after receiving medical care for complications related to diabetes.
Bradley was released on $250,000 unsecured bond, according to court records. He faces a preliminary hearing in the criminal case on Sept. 1.
The Golden Rule for Lawyers. Lying.https://t.co/FMZKRISHL9 pic.twitter.com/RDkUdkWDfS
— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) October 7, 2020
DISTRICT ATTORNEY KEVIN R. STEELE
Steele seeks justice for victims of crime and prosecutes those who commit crimes. Steele leads an office of prosecutors and detectives who together investigate and prosecute more than 9,500 criminal cases annually. His priorities are attacking the heroin-opioid-fentanyl epidemic on multiple fronts, implementing a concerted effort in Pottstown through the newly created Pottstown Community Prosecution Unit and providing needed support to law enforcement throughout the county.
Steele has been serving the people of Montgomery County since joining the District Attorney’s Office in 1995. Before becoming District Attorney, Steele served for eight years as the First Assistant District Attorney, supervising the legal staff overseeing the operations in the District Attorney’s Office. He also worked closely with the Montgomery County Detective Bureau as well as the Pennsylvania State Police and local law enforcement officers, oversaw all county homicide investigations and non-consensual wiretaps, and maintained a caseload that he prosecuted personally. Prior to being named First Assistant DA under Risa Vetri Ferman in 2008, Steele served as the Chief of Trials Division and before that, the Captain of the Narcotics Unit.
DA Steele became a prosecutor in 1992 when he was sworn in as a Deputy District Attorney in Dauphin County, Pa., where he worked for three years. He has also previously worked for the Department of Justice in Wilmington, Del.; the Office of the United States Attorneys in Washington, D.C.; and United States Secret Service in Washington, D.C. During his prosecutorial career, Steele has also been sworn as a Special Deputy Attorney General and a Special Assistant District Attorney in Adams County. He has successfully prosecuted first-degree murder cases in Montgomery, Dauphin and Adams counties. Steele received the “2012-2013 Award for Outstanding Trial Advocacy in Capital Cases” for his role in obtaining the death penalty in an Adams County case where a law enforcement officer was killed in the line of duty.
Beyond trial work, Steele is a noted educator. For more than 10 years, he has been teaching in the sociology and criminology department at Cabrini College and was recently honored with the “Faculty Teaching Excellence Award.” He is also on faculty at the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute and received its “Distinguished Faculty Award.” In 2016, Steele was elected by his colleagues to the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute. Steele is an active member of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and currently serves as the Legislative Chair.
Active in community service, Steele is the immediate past president of the Penn State Alumni Association, an alumni representative on the Penn State Board of Trustees, a board member of the Montgomery County Child Advocacy Project, a board member of Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center, vice president of the Penn Wynne-Overbrook Hills Fire Company Board of Directors and a member of the Education & Training Committee of the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Institute. Steele also previously served as board president for the Penn Wynne Civic Association, president of the Graduate School Alumni Society for Penn State and on the Board of Directors for Big Brother Big Sisters of Montgomery County.
Steele received a Master of Laws Degree in Trial Advocacy from Temple University, a law degree from Penn State’s Dickinson School.
Monday Mayhem: LIT’s Visitors Are Lovin’ Lawyer Stephen Snyder Who Attempted to Extort $50 Million from UMMS is Facing Maryland’s Attorney Grievance Proceedings – https://t.co/alhhYU7sN8 pic.twitter.com/cu8mZXQDNG
— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) October 5, 2020
