A former Edmonds lawyer is now facing two felony theft charges accusing her of pocketing roughly $325,000 of her clients’ money.
Theresa Michelle Sowinski, 35, was charged Friday with aggravated first-degree theft. She’s accused by Snohomish County prosecutors of pilfering $258,000 entrusted to her by a client she’d represented in a 2005 land sale.
Sowinski was already jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail, awaiting trial on another aggravated theft count.
The lawyer in 2005 allegedly kept $67,000 from the settlement of a woman’s property dispute case. Sowinski explained that the money disappeared in that case because she was “lousy businesswoman,” deputy prosecutor Kathy Jo Kristof said in Snohomish County Superior Court papers.
A review of the lawyer’s bank accounts this summer by Edmonds police showed that Sowinski repeatedly wrote herself checks of up to $20,000, drawing on clients’ funds without their permission, according to court papers.
“The money drained out as fast as it came in,” Kristof said.
Prosecutors have charged Sowinski with special allegations that the thefts were major economic offenses and were aggravated by the amount of money the victims lost and the defendant’s abuse of a position of trust.
If Sowinski is convicted as charged, a judge would have legal grounds to sentence her outside state guidelines. That means Sowinski could go to prison for years instead of months, Kristof said. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years apiece.
Sowinski closed her Edmonds law offices shortly after being charged in June. She had been scheduled for trial in early September, but that was delayed after she developed health issues.
She was arrested Oct. 6 at Sea-Tac International Airport before she could board a plane to Burbank, Calif. The attorney was carrying her passport, according to court papers.
Sowinski’s attorney, Thomas Olmstead of Poulsbo, earlier told the court that Sowinski was en route to Malibu, Calif., to enter a residential drug treatment program.
Kristof has asked the court to maintain Sowinski’s bail at $150,000.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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