CLE Coordinator Receives 15-Year Sentence For Stealing Under $14K

// Melissa “Missy” Tolbert will spend 3 years in prison and 12 years on probation after pleading guilty to stealing under $14,000 from the Constitutional Officers Association of Georgia over a span of 4 years. Tolbert, who also “worked as an event coordinator for the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education of Georgia, which is operated through the University of Georgia School of Law,” apparently missed the sessions on the penal code.

But isn’t this all a little too harsh? There’s something to be said for holding attorneys to higher ethical standards because they should know better, but we put people away for 8 months when they steal over $200K. Misappropriating a couple grand a year cannot possibly be more serious than defrauding mom-and-pop stores out of COVID funds.

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Early on in the investigation, authorities said Tolbert had stolen upwards of $100K — money she used in part to donate to a candidate to primary Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in case you were wondering if MAGA lunacy would work its way into this — which is obviously much worse, but when the dust settled they only convicted her of $14K. A sentence of over a year per thousand seems a bit much.

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Jail Time for Lawyer-CLE Coordinator [Law.com]

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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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Courts, Crime