Former Tampa attorney David Land Whigham's mugshot.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Christopher Nash handed down a 15-year prison sentence to former Tampa defense lawyer David Land Whigham, who pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $2 million from clients.

Whigham, 51, will also have to pay restitution. He once specialized in wills, trusts and estate planning, often representing charities and disabled litigants through his firm, the Whigham Law Group. Many of his clients had sought help paying for medical care or making arrangements to have savings go to charities after they died.

But court documents show the Florida Bar discovered he'd overstepped his bounds in 2016, when the Bank of Tampa flagged strange activity in his trust accounts.

According to the bar's petition for disciplinary revocation, Whigham failed to distribute more than $900,000 to the Shriner's Hospital for Children and a schizophrenia research foundation in Massachusetts, as a client had requested before his death in 2011.

Whigham was suspended, then disbarred and charged with 22 counts of grand theft and organized fraud.

An investigation ensued, led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which found at least nine victims had lost money to Whigham — which news outlets report he spent on his mortgage, vacations, shooting and hunting trips, restaurant meals, fishing and his family's personal expenses. In November 2017, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of grand theft.

Whigham's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Joseph Larrinaga Jr., had asked for less than the 11 years recommended by state guidelines, highlighting that his client had been diagnosed with major depression and alcoholism. Larrinaga did not respond to requests for comment before deadline.

Whigham reportedly told the court he couldn't explain his decisions, adding, “I promise the court I'll dedicate the rest of my life to making restitution.”

Marisa L. Pupello represented the state and had asked for 20 years plus restitution. She did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.

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