Michael Bradley, 53, of Warrington.
A former local attorney has pleaded guilty to misappropriating more than half a million dollars of his client’s insurance settlement funds.
Michael Bradley, 53, of Warrington, had a trial scheduled for January, however he struck a last-minute plea agreement with prosecutors and entered an open guilty plea to one count of theft by unlawful taking — a first-degree felony. Additional charges of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, theft by deception, theft by failure to make required dispersal of funds, receiving stolen property, and a pair of misdemeanor charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement, court records show.
An open guilty plea means the defense and the prosecution agreed on which charge Bradley would plead guilty to, as well as which ones would be dismissed. However, there is no agreement on sentencing, meaning a judge will ultimately levy the sentence.
Bradley faces a maximum of 20 years in state prison and a $25,000 fine.
A former attorney who is now disbarred, Bradley 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.
According to the criminal complaint, 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 report states.
Based on the findings of the ODC, Bradley was disbarred in February 2019, and the case was referred to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office for a possible criminal investigation in March 2019.
According to charging documents, 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 Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele. “The defendant was entrusted to help Thornton.”
As a result of the investigation, Bradley was initially 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’s next court appearance will be a sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled but usually occurs within 90 days of entering a guilty plea.
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