A former lawyer has been sentenced in New Hampshire to six months in federal prison for misrepresenting himself.
Seventy-seven-year-old William Summers, of Haines City, Florida, pleaded guilty to a criminal contempt charge in October.
Court documents say he was suspended from practicing law in Ohio in 2012, but kept soliciting clients, including a defendant in a New Hampshire criminal case. Summers was hired for $25,000, plus travel and local counsel expenses. He didn't tell the client about his suspension.
Court documents said Summers engaged another lawyer from Ohio who would appear in court for him. Summers sent letters to the defendant saying falsely that he was "of-counsel" in the same law firm as the lawyer who was going to appear in court.
After collecting the defendant's money, Summers told the man to plead guilty.
