Former Upper Arlington lawyer gets probation for death-benefits theft
Beatty said her decision was guided by Burt’s lack of a previous criminal record and by the small chance that others would be victimized by Burt, who surrendered her law license in 2011.
“You were an attorney who betrayed your client’s trust,” the judge told her. “You cheated a child out of money.”
But Burt’s failure as an attorney “has not put anyone else at risk,” Beatty said. Had Burt not paid restitution or surrendered her law license, the sentencing would have been “a very different story.”
Burt, 34, of Berwyn Road in Upper Arlington, pleaded guilty in April to charges of theft and tampering with government records.
She could have been sent to prison for 4 1/2 years.
She declined to make a statement in court or to comment after the hearing.
Burt was supposed to file paperwork with the probate court to recognize the child’s father as guardian after the child’s mother died. The parents weren’t married, and the father, Mark Chapa, lives in Texas.
Instead, Burt altered a document to make it appear as if she were the child’s guardian, and she sent it to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, where the child’s mother had worked. From April 2008 to April 2013, the retirement system deposited death benefits totaling $67,183 in Burt’s personal savings account.
Assistant Prosecutor Kimberly Bond asked the judge to impose a two-year prison sentence, saying Burt hasn’t shown remorse and doesn’t seem to appreciate the seriousness of the offense.
In a document filed with the court, Bond said Burt surrendered her license “for unrelated misconduct that also involved abuse of a client’s trust and money.”
Chapa did not attend the hearing but provided the judge with a written victim-impact statement that was not read in court.
Defense attorney Bradley Koffel said Burt sent checks totaling more than $12,000 to Chapa but mismanaged the rest because of her inexperience and lack of training. The remainder of the money has been repaid.
Chapa, who had custody of the child in Texas, spent years trying to get the guardianship issue resolved and to obtain the benefits being sent to Burt. It wasn’t until he finally gained guardianship in early 2013 that the retirement system began sending benefits to him and Columbus police were able to crack the case.
Cmdr. Robert Meader of the Columbus police property-crimes bureau said he wanted to read a statement in court to recommend a prison sentence, but he was told the judge wouldn’t allow it.
Beatty told The Dispatch that the sentencing hearing is an opportunity for statements to be made by the attorneys, the defendant and the victim.
“The police typically speak through the prosecutor,” she said.
jfutty@dispatch.com
