Lawyer Discipline
Florida lawyer suspended after conviction for embezzlement while a paralegal
A Florida lawyer has been suspended following her conviction for embezzling from a law firm where she once worked as a a paralegal.
The Florida Supreme Court suspended lawyer Amaris Marie Delapena in a July 9 decision, Law360 reports.
Jurors convicted Delapena of 15 counts of wire fraud and 22 counts of bank fraud in a June retrial. U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron of the Middle District of Florida set sentencing for Sept. 3.
A superseding indictment alleges Delapena obtained at least $193,000 through the fraud scheme that involved illegal PayPal transfers and diversion of third-party checks written to her law firm.
The wire-fraud counts accused Delapena of opening two PayPal accounts in the name of her law firm, and then diverting firm funds from those accounts to PayPal accounts owned by her then-boyfriend and now-husband, according to a Jan. 31 decision overturning Delapena’s initial conviction.
The law firm’s only lawyer relied on Delapena to run his bankruptcy firm’s Orlando office and gave her authority to outsource work preparing bankruptcy petitions. Delapena hired the boyfriend to prepare petitions, the defense said, and the boyfriend earned the money the firm paid him through PayPal.
Byron overturned Delapena’s initial conviction because the government failed to include PayPal native files in an exhibit that was moved into evidence. As a result, the defense was not able to cross-examine a PayPal representative about whether the files included notations by the boyfriend on PayPal requests for payment.
Delapena earned her law degree between the time of the alleged offenses and her trial, according to a press release announcing the initial conviction. The release described Delapena as a Windermere lawyer; the Florida Bar lists Clermont as the location for her law office.
Delapena, who also went by Amaris Miller, according to the superseding indictment, is represented in the ethics case by lawyer Warren W. Lindsey. Neither Lindsey nor Delapena immediately replied to email requests for comment by the ABA Journal. Delapena also did not immediately respond to a voice mail left with her law firm.
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