Lawyer sentenced to prison, ordered to repay more than $1.3 M

By: Associated Press//March 25, 2019//

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky lawyer who admitted to pocketing more than $1.3 million from clients to pay personal expenses that included gambling losses has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Friday says Danny Butler of Campbellsville also was ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution.

Butler pleaded guilty last year in federal court in Bowling Green to five counts of wire fraud for obtaining money from clients for legal work he didn’t do and to stealing money from estates.

Federal prosecutors said he lived an extravagant lifestyle and ran up gambling losses of $1.5 million.

The scheme unraveled when two brothers waiting for proceeds of an estate contacted authorities about Butler’s continued excuses for not turning over the money.

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