The Thief Of Madison County

The Indiana Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney

We find that Respondent, Stephen Schuyler, engaged in attorney misconduct by stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from six supervised estates, failing to comply with court orders, and failing to cooperate with the disciplinary process. For this misconduct, we conclude that Respondent should be disbarred.

He had been suspended for the non-cooperation

Respondent served as either the personal representative, or counsel for the personal representative, in six supervised estates opened for probate in Madison County. Over the course of several years, Respondent stole at least $550,000 from the six estates. As a result, Respondent was criminally charged with fifteen felony counts: (1) eight counts of theft as Class C, Class D, or Level 6 felonies; (2) five counts of check deception as Level 5 or Level 6 felonies; and (3) two counts of corrupt business influence as Class C or Level 5 felonies. Respondent pled guilty as charged and, in June 2017, Respondent was sentenced in accordance with the plea agreement to concurrent terms of incarceration totaling eight years and ordered to pay restitution.

In the estate case that prompted the initial disciplinary grievance filed with the Commission, Respondent failed to comply with court orders for accounting and to distribute assets, and he failed to appear at multiple hearings despite being ordered to do so, resulting in the issuance of a bench warrant for Respondent’s arrest. After this warrant was issued, Respondent tendered a check to the sole residual beneficiary of the estate in the amount ordered by the court to be distributed, but the check was dishonored due to insufficient funds. The court set the matter for another hearing, which Respondent again failed to attend. The court then removed Respondent as the estate’s administrator and appointed a successor administrator. An accounting done by the successor administrator revealed that Respondent had made unauthorized payments from the estate to himself totaling approximately $164,000.

The court noted that it has consistently disbarred attorneys for such misconduct. (Mike Frisch)