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Lawyer Accused Of Misusing Clients' Funds

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By LISA A. DAVIS

ldavis@tampatrib.com

Published: February 7, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - A 31-year-old former Port Richey lawyer, who's already spent time in jail on contempt of court charges, has been arrested on four felony counts of grand theft after a Florida Bar investigation that led to a criminal probe.
Jessica Miller was booked into the Land O' Lakes Jail late Friday morning after surrendering to face the charges. Each count accuses her of stealing thousands of dollars from law clients.

Hours later, Miller's former paralegal and officer manager, Kristen Collins, also surrendered to face the same charges.

Miller opened the Jessica Miller Law Firm in 2004 and paired with Collins in the business, opening two Bank of America checking accounts. Miller, according to Pasco County Sheriff's Office reports, had full access and control over both of the firm's accounts.

Instead of taking a salary, Miller allowed Collins to pay her personal bills directly from the firm's accounts, sheriff's office reports state. But in the end, detectives say the duo dipped even deeper, embezzling clients' money.

Funds entrusted to the law firm either as a retainer or escrowed for divorce settlements wound up being used for Miller and Collins's personal finances, records state.

According to bank records, detectives learned that the firm's trust account on June 22, 2006, had a balance of 50 cents. Six days later, a client entrusted a check for $28,152 into the law firm's account until his divorce was settled.

Between June 29 and Oct. 31 of that year, Collins and Miller, according to arrest affidavits, made 47 online and telephone transfers from the trust account to the operating account, depleting the trust account to only 77 cents.

In addition to paying personal bills from the operating account, according to sheriff's office reports, the women made purchases at Victoria's Secret, Wal-Mart, Macy's, Publix, Dillard's, Sears and Bealls. The victims' money also was "misused" to purchase Tampa Bay Rays tickets and vacations to Discovery Cove and a Tybrisa Beach resort, records state.

On May 25, 2007, another client wrote a check for $40,000 to the law firm that was to be deposited into the trust account until his divorce was settled. Those funds, too, were "systematically" transferred to the firm's operating account and used for personal bills and indulgences, according to the reports.

Bank records show, according to detectives, the money was used to pay for a Christmas bonus vacation for all the firms' employees and their families at the Sand Dunes Resort in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Detectives discovered other clients' funds were stolen, including about $2,500 for a divorce case retainer for which Miller never completed any work and refused to give back the money, according to a report.

During an interview with Detective William Lindsey, Miller denied responsibility, saying in the three years she owned the firm, she never checked the account balances or reconciled their statements. She did, however, sign a document each year stating she read and complied with the Florida Bar rules for lawyer trust accounts.

Collins, 30, of 18040 East Road, Hudson, told detectives Miller gave her permission to transfer money from the trust to the operating account on an "as-needed basis."

She admitted transferring the vicitms' money and said it was not earned and should not have been spent, according to a report. She also told detectives she was responsible for half the transfers but Miller was responsible for the rest.

In 2007, Miller was accused of failing to transfer $28,000 of clients' money into the account of another lawyer. The money belonged to a divorcing couple and was from the proceeds of their home sale.

Miller represented the husband.

Last summer, Miller took the stand before Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Shawn Crane and blamed Collins for not transferring the funds.

Miller, who also uses the name Miller-Redinger and is married to a Pinellas County deputy, has spent time in jail more than once for contempt of court for failing to abide by judge's orders related to the case. She surrendered her license to the Florida Bar last year after the organization began investigating her handling of client money.

She was released from jail Friday afternoon after posting $20,000 bail. Collins was being held at the jail late Friday afternoon. Her bail was also set at $20,000.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.

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