VERO BEACH — Former beachside resident and now disbarred attorney Richard Brown will spend the next 15 years in prison. The lawyer bilked clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last few years until his arrest last year. He faced 90 years in prison for his crimes, which he pled guilty to.
Brown once owned a home on the north barrier island and properties in New Hampshire. His life began to unravel when the economy soured, his friends said. And systematically over time, he stole roughly $400,000 from his clients until his arrest a year ago.
But it wasn’t necessity that caused him to steal; it was greed, his ex-wife and victims told Judge Robert Pegg before sentencing.
“We will have to work until our last breath,” said victim Eva Walko, 65. Brown bilked Eva and her husband out of $117,000.
Walko and the other three victims who spoke before sentencing cried as they explained to Pegg how Brown’s actions turned their lives upside down.
Natalie Holtom Brown, an interior decorator and now Brown’s ex-wife described Brown as a sociopath who believed he was above reproach with the law during the couple’s contentious divorce.
“He is an abusive master manipulator and cannot be trusted,” Holtom Brown said. “He’s a dangerous sociopath who camouflaged himself as a husband, father and attorney.”
Pegg, who has practiced law in the area for more than 30 years said that up until Brown was arrested on some 30 counts of theft, fraud and money laundering, he knew Brown to be a good man and competent lawyer.
“(It’s) a sad situation,” Pegg said moments before handing down the sentence. “…Unfortunatley your actions went on over time and time again.”
Pegg also ordered Brown to pay back his victims. Brown told the judge that he has no assets.
Following the 2 1/2 hour sentencing in Judge Pegg’s courtroom, victims, who over the past year went from strangers to a unified front against Brown, hugged one another.
“It’s over now,” Walko said.
