| Bond Revoked For Fen-Phen Lawyers
(AP) - Three lawyers accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug settlement were jailed Friday after a federal judge agreed to delay their trial date but revoked their bond. The attorneys, including two co-owners of Preakness winner Curlin, were remanded to custody during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Covington, according to an order filed in the court clerk's office. Judge William Bertelsman agreed to the lawyers' request to push the trial date back to January 7, 2008. It had been set for Oct. 15. Shirley Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion, who own 20 percent of Curlin, were jailed, along with another lawyer, Melbourne Mills Jr. The three were already found in a civil case to have defrauded more than 400 clients in a $200 million settlement involving the diet drug fen-phen.
Fen-phen lawyers must pay millions
LOUISVILLE - Three attorneys accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug lawsuit settlement must repay at least $62.5 million in settlement funds and interest, a judge ruled Friday. Special Judge William Wehr ordered William J. Gallion, 56, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76, to repay $42 million taken from the settlement and $20.5 that they put into a corporation they set up, the Kentucky Fund for Healthy Living. Wehr said the attorneys must also pay 8 percent interest on the money for the six years they had it. The attorneys are being sued by about 400 former clients who claim the lawyers took too much of a $200 million fen-phen settlement. A federal grand jury indicted the attorneys last month, charging them with conspiring to commit wire fraud in representing more than 400 people in a lawsuit over the diet drug combination.
Judge: Fen-Phen Lawyers Owe $62 Million
Three attorneys accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug settlement must repay at least $62.1 million in settlement funds and interest, a judge ruled Friday.
Special Judge William Wehr ordered William J. Gallion, 56, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76, to repay $42 million taken from the settlement and $20.1 million in interest. Wehr said the interest was 8 percent over the six years the attorneys had the funds.
The attorneys are being sued by about 400 former clients who claim the lawyers took too much money as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement.
Gallion and Cunningham own a 20 percent stake in Curlin, who won the second leg of the Triple Crown in May.
A federal grand jury indicted the attorneys last month, charging them with conspiring to commit wire fraud in representing more than 400 people in a lawsuit over the diet drug.
Civil trial to wait for feds in case against 3 lawyers
LEXINGTON - A judge said Tuesday he is considering postponing a civil lawsuit against three lawyers who allegedly bilked clients in a lawsuit over the diet drug fen-phen until a federal criminal case against the attorneys is completed. The civil trial to decide the damages against attorneys William J. Gallion, 56, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76, is scheduled to begin in September. The attorneys are being sued by former clients who claim the lawyers took too much money as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement. A federal grand jury indicted the attorneys last month, though, charging them with conspiring to commit wire fraud in representing more than 400 people in a fen-phen lawsuit. The lawyers were temporarily suspended from practicing law by the Kentucky Bar Association.
Judge: Lawyers owe at least $62 million to former clients
Three attorneys accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug settlement must repay at least $62.5 million in settlement funds and interest, a judge ruled Friday. Special Judge William Wehr ordered William J. Gallion, 56, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76, to repay $42 million taken from the settlement and $20.5 from they put into a corporation, the Kentucky Fund for Healthy Living. Wehr said the attorneys must also pay 8 percent interest over the six years they had the money. The attorneys are being sued by about 400 former clients who claim the lawyers took too much money as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement. Gallion and Cunningham own a 20 percent stake in Curlin, who won the second leg of the Triple Crown in May.
|
