Seattle Lawyer Sentenced to 18 Months for Stealing From Incapacitated Client
The sentencing is a bizarre twist for the lawyer who once helped secure a million-dollar settlement in a high-profile case.
December 11, 2019 at 04:14 PM
3 minute read
A Seattle attorney who gained recognition when she won a high-profile appellate ruling for her client against a tavern has now been sentenced to a year and a half in prison for stealing from the same client.
The Friday sentencing is a bizarre twist for the lawyer, Helga Kahr, a personal injury attorney based in Seattle. Kahr represented client Jeff Barrett, whose car was struck by a drunk driver in 1995. Barrett was left incapacitated with a severe traumatic brain injury.
In a famous case, Kahr and another attorney, on behalf of Barrett, sued the bar that served alcohol to the drunk driver, claiming that it had negligently overserved alcohol. They won a favorable ruling in the Washington Supreme Court in 2004, and according to the Seattle Times, Barrett eventually got an insurance settlement valued at $1 million to be used for his care and went to live with his parents.
Kahr ultimately became Barrett's legal guardian in 2014 and moved him into her home two years later manage his care, according to court documents.
But in September 2016, she used more than $280,000 of Barrett's funds to pay off her personal mortgage days before her home was to be foreclosed. After a tip from a volunteer in the guardian monitoring program about some strange money moves, the Seattle Times reported, Kahr was criminally charged by Seattle prosecutors.
A King County jury last month found Kahr guilty of two theft counts, according to court documents. The jury found Kahr "used her position of trust, confidence, or fiduciary responsibility to facilitate the commission" of the crimes and that Barrett was "particularly vulnerable and incapable of resistance." After her conviction, the Washington State Bar Association suspended Kahr on Nov. 14.
During a sentencing hearing Friday, Kahr's defense attorney, Miranda Maurmann, noted that since Kahr resigned as Barrett's guardian and repaid him, she should be sentenced within the standard range of the theft counts or sentenced to short-term electronic home detention. The state requested Kahr serve 36 months.
Judge Kristin Richardson on Friday landed in the middle, sentencing Kahr to 18 months in prison, beginning immediately. Kahr will also pay restitution, an amount to be determined in a future hearing, and the court ordered her to have no further contact with Barrett.
The King County prosecutor's declined to comment on the case. Representatives for Kahr did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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