SEATTLE, Wash. — A former attorney who stole more than $1.5 million from an estate he was hired to manage will spend two years in federal prison after using the money for online day trading and personal expenses on Bainbridge Island.
Duncan Connelly, 54, received the sentence Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle after pleading guilty to wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. The court also ordered Connelly to pay $1,369,462 in restitution to the estate’s beneficiaries.
“Mr. Connelly not only stole from his victims, he lied to them about his embezzlement for nearly two years,” Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said. “His crime was predatory, prolonged, and planned. The victims will likely not be made whole and will have to live the final years of their lives without the financial security that was rightfully theirs.”
U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead said the theft went beyond financial losses because Connelly violated the trust the beneficiaries placed in him.
“We talk about these financial crimes as if they’re just money,” Whitehead said during sentencing, referencing a victim’s statement that the money belonged to someone they loved. “What we’re really talking about is theft. And then you covered it up.”
Connelly voluntarily surrendered his law license March 5, 2026, as part of his plea agreement.
“His crime was predatory, prolonged, and planned. The victims will likely not be made whole and will have to live the final years of their lives without the financial security that was rightfully theirs.”
— Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd
Attorney Exploited Overseas Heirs
Court records show the executor of a Port Townsend woman’s estate hired Connelly in July 2020 to handle the distribution of approximately $3.7 million to six nieces and nephews, along with nine specific gifts to other recipients.
The executor was one of the relatives, all of whom lived overseas and lacked familiarity with the legal requirements for settling an estate in the United States. Connelly, who worked at a large law firm at the time, won the assignment in part because of the firm’s online rankings.
Initially, Connelly handled the estate appropriately while charging substantial legal fees. In 2021, however, the law firm fired him, and he began practicing independently.
He later delayed payments to beneficiaries and failed to respond to their inquiries. In February 2023, he began taking money from the estate.
Day Trading Wiped Out Estate Funds
Connelly wrote checks to himself from the estate account and attempted to disguise the payments as specific bequests. He deposited the checks into his law firm’s account before transferring the money to his personal account to cover his expenses.
The first check totaled $10,000. In May 2023, he wrote himself another check for $50,000. Meanwhile, he continued charging the estate legal fees, including approximately $6,000 for his work on the case.
In August 2023, Connelly transferred $1.5 million from the estate account under the description “transfer for investment,” making the transaction appear legitimate.
Instead of protecting the estate’s assets, he used the money for risky online day trading and lost it. He made some partial payments to beneficiaries, but by July 2024, the estate account held just over $500 despite owing beneficiaries well over $1 million.
Connelly then stopped responding to the beneficiaries.
Prosecutors Cited Deliberate Targeting of Victims
Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said Connelly deceived the beneficiaries about the theft for nearly two years.
“His crime was predatory, prolonged, and planned,” Floyd said. “The victims will likely not be made whole and will have to live the final years of their lives without the financial security that was rightfully theirs.”
Prosecutors sought a 30-month prison sentence, arguing that Connelly exploited the beneficiaries’ unfamiliarity with U.S. estate procedures and their distance from the country.
“Instead of helping the client he was actively billing and ethically required to help, he exploited their inexperience,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.
They also argued that Connelly selected the victims because the estate held substantial assets and the overseas beneficiaries had limited ability to detect the fraud or challenge his explanations.
Connelly eventually reported the theft to the FBI and federal prosecutors and agreed to surrender his law license as part of his guilty plea.
Whitehead sentenced Connelly to two years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The judge also ordered him to pay $1,369,462 in restitution, accounting for some of the money he repaid after the theft.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Grace Zoller prosecuted it.
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