Pepyne has been accused in the past of negotiating settlements with insurance companies and then withholding large sums of money from his clients.
GREENFIELD – Former attorney Edward W. Pepyne, Jr., has been indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on charges that he stole almost $200,000 from an elderly couple he represented in a personal injury case.
Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office began the investigation in May and the indictment was returned Friday. He is charged with larceny over $250 of a person over 60 years of age, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in state prison and a $50,000 fine.
Pepyne, 58, of South Deerfield, handled a case in 2006 by an elderly couple who had been in a car accident and settled it before trial, investigators said. Coakley’s office alleges that the couple agreed to give Pepyne one third of the settlement money for his fee, but Pepyne said he needed more for outstanding medical bills.
He kept more than $186,000 despite the fact that there were no more bills, investigators said, and allegedly used the money for his personal expenses.
Coakley’s office did not release or confirm the names of Pepyne’s alleged victims or the details of their accident, but a June 2004 petition for discipline from the state Board of Bar Overseers said Roger and Marion Pearce, of Shelburne, have accused him of similar malfeasance.
They had been in an accident in 2006 on the Mohawk Trail when a milk truck’s brakes failed and it tipped on its side and slid down the highway. Roger Pearce, then 77, settled for $225,000 and his wife, then 72, settled for $437,500. They claimed Pepyne stole about $190,000 of their settlement money, the petition said.
Pepyne’s arraignment is scheduled for July 15 in Franklin Superior Court in Greenfield.
Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan’s office referred the case to Coakley. The prosecutor is Assistant Attorney General Jesse Siegel of the Fraud and Financial Crimes Division.
In 2009, Pepyne submitted an affidavit of resignation to the Board of Bar Overseers and was disbarred in 2010 after allegations surfaced of misuse of his clients’ money. He was accused of negotiating settlements with insurance companies and then withholding large sums of money from his clients.
The board also said he failed to tell them when he was convicted of drunk driving in 2004.
He had practiced law in Massachusetts since 1977. He is the former town attorney for several communities, including Greenfield, Deerfield, Whately and Sunderland.