fbpx

Disbarred West Long Branch Attorney Gets Seven Years For Diverting Trust Funds

Eugene LaVergne

Eugene LaVergne

A disbarred West Long Branch attorney who was also an Independent candidate for U.S. Senate last month was sentenced to seven years in prison today following his conviction earlier this year on charges of withdrawing funds for personal use from a Court ordered a escrow account and for Contempt of Court, according to Acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Eugene M. LaVergne, 50, was disbarred in November of 2012.  He was convicted in October of second-degree Misapplication of Entrusted Funds and fourth-degree Contempt of Court.

The charges stemmed from LaVergne’s representation of an estate in litigation before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Thomas W. Cavanagh in Chancery Court in Freehold, between July 6, 2009 and November 19, 2010.  LaVergne was ordered by Judge Cavanagh to hold $200,000 in escrow in his attorney trust account pending the resolution of certain issues in the estate matter.   Instead of retaining those funds in his trust account, LaVergne took approximately $108,000 from the escrowed funds making 130 cash withdrawals from the bank, in addition to using those funds to pay numerous personal bills and expenses.

More from my site

Posted: December 22nd, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: 2014 U.S. Senate race, Crime, Crime and Punishment, Monmouth County, Monmouth County Prosecutor | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments »

2 Comments on “Disbarred West Long Branch Attorney Gets Seven Years For Diverting Trust Funds”

  1. Jim Granelli said at 6:17 pm on December 22nd, 2014:

    And this guy actually had the gall to run for office this past year. I wonder if any of the money went to his campaign?

  2. Scott Neuman said at 9:18 pm on December 27th, 2014:

    Not a Penny. And he is innocent as we’ll all soon see. He appealed the next day.