Lawyer Self-discipline
Florida lawyer suspended after conviction for embezzlement whereas a paralegal
July 16, 2025, 10:42 am CDT
A Florida lawyer has been suspended following her conviction for embezzling from a regulation agency the place she as soon as labored as a a paralegal.
The Florida Supreme Court docket suspended lawyer Amaris Marie Delapena in a July 9 resolution, Law360 experiences.
Jurors convicted Delapena of 15 counts of wire fraud and 22 counts of financial institution fraud in a June retrial. U.S. District Choose Paul G. Byron of the Center District of Florida set sentencing for Sept. 3.
A superseding indictment alleges Delapena obtained at the very least $193,000 by way of the fraud scheme that concerned unlawful PayPal transfers and diversion of third-party checks written to her regulation agency.
The wire-fraud counts accused Delapena of opening two PayPal accounts within the title of her regulation agency, after which diverting agency funds from these accounts to PayPal accounts owned by her then-boyfriend and now-husband, in accordance with a Jan. 31 resolution overturning Delapena’s preliminary conviction.
The regulation agency’s solely lawyer relied on Delapena to run his chapter agency’s Orlando workplace and gave her authority to outsource work making ready chapter petitions. Delapena employed the boyfriend to organize petitions, the protection stated, and the boyfriend earned the cash the agency paid him by way of PayPal.
Byron overturned Delapena’s preliminary conviction as a result of the federal government failed to incorporate PayPal native recordsdata in an exhibit that was moved into proof. Consequently, the protection was not capable of cross-examine a PayPal consultant about whether or not the recordsdata included notations by the boyfriend on PayPal requests for cost.
Delapena earned her regulation diploma between the time of the alleged offenses and her trial, in accordance with a press launch asserting the preliminary conviction. The discharge described Delapena as a Windermere lawyer; the Florida Bar lists Clermont as the situation for her regulation workplace.
Delapena, who additionally glided by Amaris Miller, in accordance with the superseding indictment, is represented within the ethics case by lawyer Warren W. Lindsey. Neither Lindsey nor Delapena instantly replied to e-mail requests for remark by the ABA Journal. Delapena additionally didn’t instantly reply to a voice mail left together with her regulation agency.
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