Resigned But A “Special Place In Hell” May Await

An attorney who stole $262,000 from the estate of a disabled veteran had his resignation accepted by the Ohio Supreme Court.

John Caniglia  in The Cleveland Plain Dealer had this report on his criminal conviction and sentence

An attorney was sentenced to 16 months in prison Tuesday for siphoning $262,000 from the estate of a disabled Army veteran.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick sentenced Kevin Purcell, 62, formerly of Middleburg Heights, after hearing how the attorney stole the money from the estate of John Kane, who suffered from schizophrenia.

“There is a special place in hell waiting for attorneys who steal from the defenseless,” said Matthew Meyer, an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor who handled the case.

Purcell served as a guardian for Kane since 1993 and administrator of his estate after he died in 2012. He pleaded guilty last month to aggravated theft and agreed to never practice law again. He also planned to pay restitution to Kane’s estate. He has been an attorney since 1981.

“Kevin Purcell is the worst kind of thief,” said Kane’s sister, Valarie DeChant. “(He) constantly boasted to me what a great service he was performing for my brother. At the same time, he was draining his estate.”

She said she has received a small fraction back from Purcell’s theft and urged McCormick to condemn Purcell for what he did, “thereby protecting those who are vulnerable to his lies and his thievery.”

The court also accepted another resignation of an attorney whose alleged misconduct has been the subject of reports by The Columbus Dispatch. (Mike Frisch)