A former Edmonds lawyer was sentenced to a year behind bars Friday after admitting she stole $325,000 from clients.
Theresa Michelle Sowinski, 35, blinked back tears as she joined her lawyer and a Snohomish County prosecutor to stand in front of the judge.
Not so long ago, Sowinski could have been arguing a point of law before Superior Court Judge Linda Krese. On Friday, she was handcuffed, hobbled and wearing a jail uniform.
Sowinski earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree theft. Under an agreement reached with prosecutors, she stipulated that extra punishment was warranted because she’d violated her clients’ trust and taken large sums of money.
The case represents “a worst-case scenario for somebody hiring a lawyer,” deputy prosecutor Hal Hupp said.
Robin Knutson lost more than $250,000 to what she described as Sowinski’s “unethical, evil and immoral behavior.” The theft took away an inheritance she was counting on, and has sentenced her to a lifetime of worry, Knutson said.
She urged the judge not to be moved by Sowinski’s tears, adding “her real remorse is over the loss of an extravagant lifestyle” supported by embezzlement.
Tammy Mair, Knutson’s niece, said she recommended Sowinski’s legal services out of a friendship that had blossomed and grown since they first met as children, 25 years ago.
The lawyer gave her repeated assurances that she was representing her aunt’s interests, and that she’d soon get her money, Mair said.
She now knows that Sowinski was just stalling for time. When Edmonds police reviewed Sowinski’s bank account they discovered it was all but empty, and that the lawyer repeatedly wrote herself checks of up to $20,000, drawing on clients’ funds without their permission.
“She not only committed a felony theft, she blatantly abused our friendship,” Mair said.
Sowinski’s sentence was double the typical punishment for felony theft. But with credit for time Sowinski already has served, she likely will be free from prison within a couple of months, Hupp said.
Sowinski has been jailed since October after she was arrested on warrants as she prepared to board a plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport carrying her passport. She said she was headed to drug treatment in California.
Sowinski occasionally dabbed tears from her eyes during the hearing, but she declined to speak when the judge asked. The defendant clearly struggled with her emotions as people described the harm she’d caused, and her face broke out in what appeared to be bright red hives.
Family members who spoke on Sowinski’s behalf said she’d gone through a tough divorce, had put herself through law school, and then underwent a stark personality change.
Her attorney, Thomas Olmstead of Poulsbo, said there was evidence Sowinski had been suffering ill effects from a prescription medicine she’d received to treat attention deficits and hyperactivity.
The lawyer said he’d considered offering a defense based on an insanity claim connected to the drug’s alleged effects but abandoned the idea after reviewing police reports and the evidence assembled against his client.
Sowinski feels remorse, but can’t explain what happened, he said.
“She recognizes her signature, but she does not believe the things that she did,” he said.
Others who spoke Friday suggested that Sowinski was simply a practiced liar who had come up with a good story.
The judge heard about Sowinski’s ability to stall in repaying debts, to offer plausible-sounding stories, to slow her eviction when she stopped paying rent, and to walk away leaving unpaid utility bills and an unhappy gardener who suddenly learned he’d been working for free.
Elisa Chimienti was among Sowinski’s clients who told the judge about getting little from her representation except legal bills and aggravation.
“She made a lot of promises. She took thousands of dollars from me, and then I could not get a hold of her,” Chimienti said.
Sowinski’s license to practice law has been suspended, and the Washington State Bar Association is taking steps to disbar her, Olmstead said.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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