DA: Disbarred lawyer took $147K from special needs clients

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A disbarred Pennsylvania attorney has been charged with stealing nearly $147,000 from special needs clients whose money he was supposed to manage.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele says 45-year-old Patrick Bradley used his clients’ funds like an automatic teller machine and spent it on his own mortgage payments, gasoline, sporting goods and dining out.

Bradley is accused of stealing more than $116,000 from the trust accounts of five clients, then also taking nearly $31,000 for legal work he never did for seven other special needs clients.

Bradley was disbarred in September. He faces a preliminary hearing May 2 on 59 theft and related counts.