PROVIDENCE – Former Attorney Vincent J. Mitchell pleaded nolo contendere Thursday and was sentenced to 20 years with 8 to serve at the ACI and the balance suspended with probation, for an embezzlement charge, according to state Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.
The state charged that the 59-year-old Coventry man had operated a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 11 clients of $1.3 million. According to the Attorney General’s office, Mitchell used the funds invested in his LLC that purported to be a legitimate estate planning operation to cover losses from his personal and law practice bank accounts, which stemmed from his drug, alcohol and gambling habits.
Mitchell had been disbarred in 2017. His Warwick practice had centered around estate planning and long-term health care planning.
Mitchell was ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution as well. The state noted that since Mitchell’s work involved estate planning for older adults, some of his victims have since died.
His voluntary admission to the R.I. Supreme Court Chief Disciplinary Council in August 2017 resulted in the investigation.
