NEWS

Ex-bankruptcy attorney avoids jail time on 8 theft charges

Mike Emery
Palladium-Item

A former Richmond bankruptcy attorney avoided jail time Thursday on eight felony theft charges for taking fees and prepaid Visa cards from clients but never filing their bankruptcy petitions.

Charles Hyde Jr.

Charles R. Hyde Jr., 61, received six years of probation from Special Judge Marianne Vorhees of Delaware County Circuit Court. Vorhees divided the eight Class D felony convictions into three groups — two that included three counts each and one that included two counts. She sentenced Hyde to two years of incarceration with all time suspended to probation for each of the eight counts.

Sentences on the counts within each group will be served concurrently, but the sentences for the three groups will be served consecutively. That created the six years of probation agreed upon in a plea agreement reached by Hyde and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

"I don't think it's appropriate for incarceration," said Vorhees, adding Hyde can better spend the time earning money for the $54,669 in restitution he's agreed to pay.

Ex-attorney pleads guilty to 8 felonies

Hyde declined to comment after the hearing.

Some victims who remained in Wayne County Superior Court I to hear Vorhees' decision at the end of a 3½-hour hearing thought Hyde should have gone to jail. The plea agreement allowed Vorhees to sentence him to a maximum of one year of incarceration.

"I think he should have jail time," said Robert Florence, saying anyone who entered a drug store and stole would go to jail.

Other victims agreed that Hyde received treatment others might not have.

"I'm very upset that he's not getting jail time," said Hope Smith, who said she was out $20,000 from Hyde's handling of an estate case. "If he didn't have the status he had in the community, he would have gotten jail time."

"It's too lenient for what they would give someone else," said Cedric James. "I think he needed to learn a little more of a lesson. I don't think anybody else would be excused that easily."

Vorhees declined to classify the convictions as Class A misdemeanors as requested by Hyde, saying the offenses were a serious breech of trust with multiple victims over multiple years. In a pre-sentence report, Vorhees read statements by Hyde's victims about their lack of trust and belief in lawyers because of Hyde's actions.

"Some of your quotes were very heart-wrenching for me to read," she told the victims that had gathered in the courtroom Thursday.

Hyde originally was charged with 26 counts of theft, and a charge of corrupt business influence was added later. The other 19 charges now have all been dismissed.

Judge denies Hyde motion to dismiss all charges

Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman had seven victims and five former employees of Hyde's legal practice testify during Thursday's hearing. After about an hour and a half, defense attorney James Williams agreed that other victims would testify in a similar fashion, removing the need for all of the victims among the 50 or so people in attendance to testify.

Victims detailed how they paid Hyde to help them file for bankruptcy, and he required all of their payment up front before he would begin the process. Those who testified said he would reassure them their cases were progressing, even as he became harder to reach in his office or by phone. After their cases dragged for months or Hyde had closed his office without warning in 2012, they found other attorneys who filed their bankruptcy petitions promptly.

They also explained how creditors called them asking for a bankruptcy case number that they never had received. They talked about the stress they endured and how they experienced health and financial problems.

Employees spoke about the deterioration of the office environment, with up to 100 bankruptcy cases waiting for Hyde's approval and signature before they could be submitted and about how delays required new information be gathered from clients and caused clients to have to retake credit counseling classes for additional fees.

Williams said Hyde's problems with his practice came from an undiagnosed psychological issue. He said Hyde approached him in 2012 when Hyde was being investigated by the Indiana Supreme Court's disciplinary committee after it had received complaints.

"Chuck, you're done. It's time to resign," Williams said he told Hyde.

Hyde then was diagnosed as being bipolar, Williams said.

Ex-attorney asks court to dismiss 27 charges

Williams' presentation was interrupted by a man in the gallery, who said, "May God have mercy on your soul Mr. Hyde for what you did to these people," before leaving the courtroom.

Before Williams' arguments on his behalf, Hyde addressed the court and his victims.

"I've never once questioned my financial responsibilities with you," he said. "I let you down."

Hyde, who sometimes read from a prepared statement, later said he had been struggling with what to say.

"I realized I'm still having trouble generating sincere remorse," he said. "I think I've realized that this is my fault. I've been hurt by clients and employees I thought cared for me. ... I should have taken full responsibility.

"I will, to my dying day, think of making it up to you. I'm deeply, profoundly sorry for the stresses I caused my clients."

Shipman argued Hyde deserved jail time because he had years to come clean with his clients, but he continued to recruit new clients even as he failed to service his current ones.

"He could have limited the damage and chose not to," Shipman said. "In court today, he states, 'I'm still having trouble generating sincere remorse.' Are you kidding me?"

Vorhees ruled aggravating factors such as the violation of trust, victims older than 65, victims who were disabled, the significant harm caused victims, the number of victims and time period of the crimes outweighed the mitigating factors significantly.

In the end, though, she ruled against jail time in favor of Hyde earning restitution money. Williams said Hyde would make a $5,000 payment Thursday.

Smith wanted jail time for Hyde, but she's pleased with the restitution requirement.

"I think that's a very good thing," she said. "I think it needs to be done. He needs to pay everyone back that he's damaged."