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Thursday, September 01, 2011

Ind. Courts - "Former Crawford prosecutor ordered to repay relative's estate"

Grace Schneider reports today in the Louisville Courier-Journal in a long story that begins:

Former Crawford County prosecutor Jimmie Montgomery was ordered by a judge this week to repay $146,000 that he and his wife were accused of taking from an incapacitated relative’s estate.

Harrison Superior Court Judge Roger Davis had threatened to jail Montgomery and his wife Shirley for contempt if they didn’t reimburse the money the couple had paid themselves from her aunt’s estate for caring for the woman in their home during the last two years.

The accusations that the Montgomerys illegally dipped into Alberta D. Suddarth’s estate surfaced this summer, roughly 18 months after the Indiana Supreme Court suspended Jimmie Montgomery’s law license over accusations that he stole law books when he left the prosecutor’s office in 2006.

Montgomery remains suspended from practicing law, according to state records, but he was listed in good standing when he took the guardianship matter to court two years ago.

Here is the Jan. 21, 2010 Supreme Court order In the Matter of Jimmie L. Montgomery. A quote:
Stipulated Facts: Respondent was elected as prosecutor of Crawford County in 2002. In late 2005, he used county funds to buy a set of West's Indiana Code ("New Set") for the prosecutor's office. He donated his personal set ("Old Set") to the county public library. During his term in office, supplements updating the New Set were sent to the prosecutor's office, but the Old Set was not kept current. Respondent did not win re-election in 2006. He took the New Set with him when he left office, leaving the prosecutor's office without any set of West's Indiana Code. During the Commission's investigation, Respondent falsely stated he believed that he had donated the New Set to the public library and that he had taken the Old Set with him when he left office. After the Commission initiated its investigation, Respondent reimbursed the county for the books in question. * * *

For Respondent's professional misconduct, the Court suspends Respondent from the practice of law in this state for a period of not less than six months, without automatic reinstatement, beginning February 25, 2010.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 1, 2011 09:52 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions