A disbarred lawyer has pleaded guilty in Kansas City federal court to stealing from a fund for two murdered children.
The investigation tracked back 5 years.
The former lawyer, disbarred in 2009, admitted to a U.S. District Judge he stole from a fund he set up to build a memorial to Lindsey and Sam Porter, two Independence children killed by their father during a custody battle in 2004.
The fund was to build a playground in the children’s names.
When the theft was discovered, Kent Desselle returned the missing $12 thousand.
Later Desselle was suspected of and indicted for other fraud cases.
U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson said in a prepared statement that Desselle had taken advantage of a grieving mother and the widow of a friend for his own gain.
The 62 year old defendant will have to repay more than a third of a million dollars to the victim-widow. He also pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud.
Desselle could be sentenced to fewer
than four years in prison with no chance for early release.