FARMINGTON – A former Skowhegan lawyer and Mt. Blue High School graduate was ordered Friday to serve two years in prison and repay $219,000 he admitted stealing from his grandfather’s estate and others over several years.
John P. Frankenfield, 37, was convicted of theft and misuse of entrusted funds by a Somerset County jury in January and has been jailed pending his sentencing.
He appeared Friday before Justice Joseph Jabar in Franklin County Superior Court dressed in a blue prison uniform and white slip-on shoes. His hands were clasped behind his back, his legs in chains, as as he tried to explain why he stole $164,000 from his grandfather’s estate and $55,000 in escrowed real estate funds from other clients who were not related.
Proceeds from his grandfather Wayne Frankenfield’s estate were intended to help support his widow, who is a resident in a Farmington nursing home.
Frankenfield, a Bowdoin College graduate who grew up in the Farmington-Wilton area, blamed gambling and his anger against an uncle as the primary reasons for the thefts.
No one was in court to support Frankenfield except his attorney as he apologized to the people he bilked.
Frankenfield acted as his own attorney during his January trial and offered no defense, according to court records.
After reading about the trial in a newspaper, Augusta lawyer Walter McKee volunteered his services as a defense attorney for Frankenfield.
Frankenfield pleaded guilty Friday to theft and misuse of entrusted funds in connection with the $55,000 he stole in escrowed real estate funds from other unrelated clients.
In January, he was found guilty of the same charges in connection with his grandfather’s estate.
Jabar ordered Frankenfield to serve six years in prison, with all but two years suspended and four years of probation on one count of theft. A second like sentence will be served concurrently on the second charge of theft. Jabar also ordered Frankenfield to serve two concurrent six-month sentences for two charges of misuse of entrusted property.
Frankenfield was ordered to pay $219,000 in restitution.
Cumberland County Probate Court had appointed Frankenfield in 1999 as the personal representative of his grandfather’s estate. By early 2003, the estate that once had at least $166,583 of estate funds was depleted, according to court documents. Frankenfield’s uncle, Leigh R. Frankenfield of Falmouth, filed a grievance complaint against his nephew in late 2002.
From there, John Frankenfield started using others’ money in his trust and, by June of 2004, had spent another $55,000 belonging to other clients.
The Board of Overseers of the Bar disbarred him in September 2004 from the practice of law in the state of Maine.
Members of Frankenfield’s family asked for him to receive the maximum punishment because of his trusted position, the money he stole and the damage he has done to the family’ name.
Attorney McKee, meanwhile, painted a picture of Frankenfield as an intelligent, respected attorney who had no criminal record. He took courses at the University of Maine at Farmington his senior year in high school in 1986, graduated from Bowdoin College and then law school in 1995.
Frankenfield clearly knew there would be an accounting and a judgment day for his actions, McKee said.
McKee said later that Frankenfield lost his profession, family and reputation.
Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin told the court that Frankenfield was still blaming others for his actions and repeated it again after the hearing, saying he was still in denial.
“I think any time a white-collar criminal defendant goes to jail for any period of time, it’s significant,” she said.
Frankenfield’s uncle, Leigh Frankenfield, didn’t agree with the sentence.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate, but I respect the judge’s decision,” he said. “I had expected more because he was a lawyer and in a position of power and trust.
“I wish he had been dealt with more harshly,” he said.
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