Thomas White sentenced to 5-20 years in Michigan prison

Disbarred Belleville attorney Thomas White, 47, who pled no contest to 20 felony charges against him, on Friday morning was sentenced to 5 to 20 years in the Michigan prison system and was taken into custody to begin his term.
His sentence could have been 254 years, but White was not advised at the time of the plea agreement that his sentences on the charges could run consecutively rather than concurrently.
Retired Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Dalton A. Roberson, who was on temporary duty with the court, said if he changed the sentencing to make the terms consecutive, he was afraid that White could withdraw his no-contest plea.
The highest sentence of 5-20 years was given for each of the first five charges in the second file involving conducting a criminal enterprise and four charges of embezzlement of $100,000 or more.
White did not bring the $900,000 restitution money to court that could have bought him a two-year sentence in the county jail under the plea agreement.
White will be able to apply for parole after his minimum sentence is served, but the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office would oppose that.
Also, there are many victims who were not named in this case and new criminal cases could be filed against him if he is released, officials said.
Judge Roberson also ordered White to pay restitution of more than $1.1 million to 14 victims, whose names were read by Assistant Prosecutor Trisha Gerard during the proceedings.
White’s sentencing was scheduled for 9 a.m., but his defense attorney W. Otis Culpepper didn’t show up until 10:30 a.m. and Culpepper accompanied White to face Judge Roberson just before 11 a.m.
Judge Roberson went over the sentencing guidelines from the probation department and Prosecutor Gerard said the ten victims stated, should be 25, since money White embezzled from several estates affected those who were due to inherit the money.
Prosecutor Gerard said the sentence for the first file was five to 20 years, referring to five charges of uttering and publishing, larceny by conversion, embezzlement by an agent or trustee, and two charges of identity theft that took $73,800 from the Jordan family in Belleville.
Those five charges were filed in Sept. 6, 2013, just before the statute of limitations was reached for the crime that took place Sept. 14, 2007.
The 15 other felonies were filed Dec. 18 2013 and the two cases were consolidated and ran through the system together with innumerable delays.
Defense attorney Culpepper disputed the five to 20 years, saying it was 36 to 60 months. Prosecutor Gerard said they never agreed to that. Gerard was new on the case since the former Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Williams recently left the Prosecutor’s Office to go into private practice.
She regularly referred to the written transcript of the plea agreement to make sure she was getting it right.
Judge Roberson asked if any victims were going to speak and she said there were three attorneys of victims that wished to speak. [Actually, there were two victims who had planned to speak, but they failed to let the prosecutor know of their intentions and so were not asked to come forward.] Attorney Jeffrey M. Frank
Jeffrey M. Frank of Alber Crafton Attorneys said his firm represents Western Surety Company and two of White’s victims had their estate money insured by that firm. He said White put the money in his account and “stole it within weeks.”
He said White left both victims with substantial attorney fees.
“We listened to lies after lies,” Frank said. He said Charlotte Devine lost $97,000 and her son got zero inheritance money. White put $129,000 of the Low’s money into his client account and ultimately stole it, Frank said.
He said not only did they lose the money, but now they are obliged to repay the insurance company.
“It was a calculated scheme that lasted for years,” Frank said, adding that White took his family on a vacation to Alaska and has been seen around town dining out and paying the check for large family groups.
“This is why attorneys have a bad name,” Frank said referring to White’s actions. He asked Judge Roberson to impose the maximum sentence.
Attorney Aaron Silvenis
Aaron Silvenis, who grew up in Belleville and now is an attorney with Cohen, Lerner, Rabinowitz, stood to read a prepared statement, but when he mentioned other victims that were not a part of these cases, Culpepper objected and Judge Roberson asked him to stick to the victims in these two cases.
Silvenis said his law firm represents the Gallaway family whose entire inheritance in excess of $300,000 was stolen by Thomas White.
“For reasons that my clients do not understand, the prosecutor’s office did not include their claims as part of the criminal proceeding even though it was the Gallaway family that was responsible for uncovering the misconduct of Thomas White,” Silvenis said, noting he also represents a host of other victims whose monies have been stolen by White and whose lives have been torn apart by his conduct.
“When a thief who is not an attorney is caught stealing from someone or robbing a store, they get a lengthy term to serve,” Silvenis said. “Here, Mr. White has stolen millions and destroyed lives that will never recover. His crimes far outweigh the amounts taken in a dollar store robbery or a larceny from a person’s home.
“In the case of one of my clients, the money that she had relied on from her house closing and which were to pay for her assisted living obligations were taken from her, leaving her penniless and without the means to pay for her assisted living,” Silvenis said.
“All of the victims here understand that by putting Mr. White in prison, they will stand to receive nothing financially from him unless funds can be located. While they have not given up the hope that someday the missing funds will be located and accounted for, they have come to the realization that their only relief will come from the knowledge that Mr. White pays for his crime by long-term incarceration. This isn’t a matter of revenge. It is a matter of fairness. If Mr. White had any intention of being forthcoming, he would have revealed his finances long ago and he would have stopped his binge at the victims’ expense.
“As it is, he continues to live with his two sons, conveniently divorced his wife – although they get together weekly for family meals – and he rents a house and lives just as he had before with no real loss to him.
“We ask this Court to exercise its discretion and exceed the sentencing guidelines in this matter owing to the heinous nature of Mr. White’s conduct.
“He preyed on average, everyday people. He used his law degree as a cloak for his misconduct. He betrayed the trust of his office and he betrayed the trust of each of the victims as a human being.
“This Court must hold him to a higher degree of culpability than an average layman who is a defendant. Mr. White knew the law. His knowledge allowed him to manipulate these people. Don’t allow him to manipulate this Court as it hands down its sentence,” Silvenis concluded.
Attorney John Badeen
Attorney John Badeen said he was representing Alisa Renier and the estate of her mother Eileen Kuchta. The loss was $223,000 plus. He said White requested the original records “so no one could do the math.”
He read a statement by Renier on the dishonest attorney who was a personal friend of her father. “We trusted him.”
Renier said White took advantage of her grieving after her mother’s death and her confusion over the legalities since she was executor.
“Mr. White hugged me and took me out to lunch,” Renier wrote. She said what White did required her to hire two attorneys and she’s been using her own retirement funds to pay them.
She said if restitution is ordered, she’ll have to reopen her mother’s estate to claim the funds.
“Shame on him,” she concluded. “Shame, shame.”
Assistant Prosecutor Trisha Gerard
Assistant Prosecutor Trisha Gerard said it’s because of lawyers like Thomas White that there are all those jokes about lawyers.
“I still remember when I took an oath and got my law license,” Gerard said. “We don’t steal. We take an oath not to injure our clients.”
She said White has stolen from his clients over and over again.
“He’s the poster child for a bad attorney,” Gerard said.
She said the small town of Belleville is, “quite frankly, Mayberry RFD” where people know each other on the street and trust each other.
“He took that trust and used it as a weapon against them,” Gerard said, adding if there was a reason he did what he did, they don’t know, other than “flat-out greed.”
She said White can “promise and promise and promise” to give the money back, but he won’t.
She said that knowing he has to suffer in prison the victims finally can close their eyes at night and sleep. She called his incarceration, “partial justice.”
She, too, asked for the maximum sentence.
That’s when Judge Roberson said he should have told White the sentences could run consecutively instead of concurrently. “I didn’t know,” he said.
“I’m appalled that was not brought up,” Gerard said, referring to the transcript.
Defense attorney Culpepper said people want revenge and, “Mr. White will never practice law again, never.”
Culpepper said, “He no longer is one of us … That is a very damaging thing to a human being … The biggest part of the punishment has been meted out.”
Then, he said his client wished to speak.
Thomas White
Confessed embezzler Thomas White rose to address the judge and the courtroom.
“I disagree with very little of what was said,” he said referring to the statements on behalf of the victims.
“I am embarrassed and ashamed,” he continued. “I regret many of the things I did. I hurt family and friends. I apologize to each and every one of them.”
He begged the court for mercy and said he hoped after a period of incarceration, he can get out and spend the rest of his years trying to fix what he broke.
“I apologize to everyone in the courtroom, to Your Honor and every one of the victims,” White said, noting that one of the victims in the courtroom that morning is a Vietnam veteran.
Then, Girard read the proposed sentences for each of the 20 felonies. Judge Roberson said, “I didn’t tell him he was facing consecutive terms.” He said it was too late to tell him now.
Then, the restitution order was read listing 14 names and amounts, totaling in excess of $1,145,261.
Vivian Jackson stood up in the back of the courtroom and said she should have been on that list.
Gerard said they will speak to Michigan State Police Det./Sgt. Joseph White on the matter after court.
(Jackson told the Independent earlier that her life is in upheaval because White handled her divorce and she never got the divorce papers. She said she doesn’t know if she’s divorced or not. Also, the IRS is after her because of White’s activities with her money.)
A court officer escorted White out of the courtroom to the Wayne County Jail, where he was to be transferred to the Michigan Department of Corrections prison system.
Culpepper said he opposes all the restitutions, noting, “I can’t review them if I don’t object.”