Overview
- Kelly DuFord Williams pleaded guilty to taking client settlement money and was credited for time already served in county jail.
- The judge set a separate hearing later this year to calculate how much restitution victims are owed.
- Prosecutors allege she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from as many as eight clients and forged their signatures on settlement checks.
- Former clients told the court she delayed or withheld funds and that settlements she arranged were far below what they were initially promised.
- Complaints to the State Bar from 2020 to 2023 preceded criminal charges, and she was disbarred two months later, with filings also alleging false police reports and use of an unlicensed court stand-in.