Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele has announced the arrest of 50-year-old Michael Bradley, of Warrington, on multiple counts of felony theft stemming from an investigation by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau into the misappropriation of insurance settlement funds.
Bradley, a former attorney who is now disbarred, was the legal representative for Branden Thorton, who received $1,105,000 for his lifelong care after sustaining serious injuries in a vehicle crash while walking on a roadway in Upper Merion in September 2012. As part of the representation agreement between Thorton and Bradley, Bradley received 25% of the gross award and he was responsible for communicating with the insurance companies and paying Thorton’s medical bills, which he did for three years.
The release states that Thorton’s mother would later be informed by Bradley that the funds for her son’s care had been depleted, at which point she demanded an accounting of the finances. In March 2018, the mother filed a complaint with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) alleging Bradley had engaged in professional misconduct, and the ensuing investigation by the ODC found that Bradley had mishandled Thorton’s funds and that there were also signs of possible theft, the release states.
Based on the findings of the ODC, Bradley was disbarred in February 2019, and the case was referred to the district attorney’s office for a possible criminal investigation in March 2019.
According to the release, the investigation by the Montgomery County Detectives determined that between December 2014 and May 2017, Bradley had allegedly misappropriated $563,840.75 of the $1,105,000 settlement. Investigators said that Bradley had co-mingled the settlement funds with his business account, and had used the funds to pay for personal expenses including $220,000 to his mortgage company to avoid foreclosure, renovations to his home, new furniture, vacations, plastic surgery, jewelry, college tuition, student loan payments, vehicle payments and nearly 1,000 purchases from Amazon.
“The defendant’s theft of more than half a million dollars—funds that were dedicated to helping his client receive the care he needed to live—which he used to pay for extravagant goods and vacations, is not only illegal but disturbing on a basic human level,” said DA Steele. “The defendant was entrusted to help Thornton.”
As a result of the investigation, Bradley has been charged with felony counts of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, in addition to several related misdemeanor charges. Bradley was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Cathleen Rebar, who set bail at $250,000 unsecured.
Bradley’s next court appearance is a preliminary hearing in front of Judge Rebar on Sept. 1 at 1 p.m.
(All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.)
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