A disbarred lawyer from Dennis, Massachusetts pleaded guilty earlier this month to “to one count of larceny over $250 by a single scheme”, an understatement considering the amount was an additional $649,750.
John “Jack” Roberts Jr. admittedly stole $650,000 from a local client, wiring the bulk of the money to poker sites to fuel his shameless addiction. He would use the money to join and infinitely lose poker tourneys, blowing someone’s inheritance in the process of getting his quick fix.
This isn’t the first time someone has lost their trusted life savings to Roberts. In 2007, Scumbag McGee stole $137,000 from the estate of a late client, of whom he possessed the rights to her $600,000 estate at the time. Both victims were said to have trusted him as a close friend, leaving themselves vulnerable to his skeevy manipulation.
Following the first incident in 2007, Roberts attempted suicide twice while awaiting trial sentencing and psychiatric treatment, later being put under house arrest. Since history has already repeated itself, he was ordered by the judge to visit the Taunton State Hospital for a pre-sentencing psychological evaluation to help determine a reasonable conviction.
Roberts will appear back before the Barnstable Superior Court for his sentencing hearing on June 9th. A once respected member of the community, Roberts’ lifetime sentence of shame and regret in obscurity and seclusion seems like a fitting end to a once illustrious career after destroying the lives of people that trusted you. Case dismissed.
As it was previously reported that a new amendment to a Massachusetts bill to be brought before the state senate would criminalize internet poker, like Skip It and parachute pants, the legislation is now just a thing of the past. The anti-poker language sparked the swift action of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a non-profit advocacy group whose purpose is “to speak with one voice to promote poker, and to protect the players’ rights.”
