EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A former Belleville attorney has been sentenced to seven and a half years in federal prison after he admitted to stealing more than $1 million from clients over several years.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), 51-year-old Jason R. Caraway pleaded guilty in February to six counts of wire fraud. They said Caraway misappropriated client funds by taking settlement money and using it for personal and business expenses, forging signatures on court documents, failing to pay medical lienholders, and writing checks to himself without approval. Investigators identified over 40 clients who were affected by his wrongdoings.
“This lawyer didn’t just steal — he preyed on clients who trusted him to fight for them after suffering life-altering injuries,” U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft said in a statement. He added that Caraway’s sentence “rightly delivers justice for his victims.”
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Among those victims were the two children of Washington Park Police Officer Ricardo Davis, who was killed in the line of duty in 2018. Caraway secured more than $128,000 for what should have been the family’s benefit, ultimately never distributing the funds. The DOJ says the children were eventually compensated though, through the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission’s Client Protection Program. He was sentenced Oct. 1 in U.S. District Court…