Ex-Attorney Sentenced For Thefts
A former Seattle attorney convicted earlier this month of stealing $135,903 from several of her clients was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison by King County Superior Court Judge Faith Ireland.
Kimberlee Ann McDonald, 42, was also ordered to pay back the money she stole from her clients. She was charged with four counts of first-degree theft and two counts of second-degree theft for embezzling the money from November 1989 through October 1990. In one instance, she stole $54,124.
King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott Peterson had sought an exceptionally long sentence of nearly five years in prison for McDonald, saying it was warranted because the defendant violated her clients' trust in her as their attorney.
But the judge cited mitigating circumstances - testimony during the trial that McDonald suffered from a mental impairment - as one reason for not imposing an exceptional sentence. Ireland also expressed concern that an exceptionally long sentence might decrease the possibility of McDonald repaying her former clients the money she stole from them.
McDonald, who has a 1994 federal conviction for bank fraud, will also have to serve an additional seven months for violating the terms of her probation in that case.