Acting United States W. Stephen Muldrow announced that Josiah E. Hutton yesterday pleaded guilty to concealment of assets from a bankruptcy estate, according to a DOJ press release. Hutton faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. Sentencing has been set for June 5, 2017. According to the plea agreement, Hutton was retained to represent a debtor who was planning to file for bankruptcy. In anticipation of filing a bankruptcy petition, Hutton received a settlement check, which was property of the debtor’s bankruptcy estate, and deposited it into his attorney escrow account. Hutton later prepared and certified the debtor’s bankruptcy petition, yet he failed to list the settlement check as an asset, thereby concealing the asset from creditors and the bankruptcy court.
