Kansas: Wichita lawyer admits stealing from veterans; Agrees to pay back more than $330,600

By Roxana Hegeman Associated Press WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A disbarred Wichita attorney admitted Monday to embezzling from the veterans whose pension benefit checks she had been entrusted to administer in a case the defense contends only came to light because "the guilt was eating away" at her. Janell Jenkins-Foster, 57, pleaded guilty to two counts of embezzlement and agreed to pay back the more than $330,600 she had stolen from veterans and their estates. Her defense attorney, Craig Robinson, told The Associated Press outside the courtroom that when Jenkins-Foster first came to him to admit to the thefts, the guilt was deteriorating her health. "I have done something terrible and I have to get it off my chest," Robins said Jenkins-Foster told him. She then recounted to him how she started misappropriating small amounts at first when she got behind on her bills and couldn't afford the lifestyle she wanted, he said. From those modest thefts, the amounts grew. The Veterans Administration did not immediately return messages seeking comment left Monday after close of business. Jim Cross, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Kansas, said prosecutors would reserve their comment for the courtroom. Robinson said Jenkins-Foster "liked what she did and she had a special relationship with all these veterans." So the first thing they did was notify the state disciplinary board for attorneys, he said, adding Jenkins-Foster surrendered her law licenses in Kansas and Missouri. They also contacted her employer, the Veterans Administration, the U.S. attorney's office, the district judge overseeing probate, and other authorities. She consented to pay the civil lawsuits from veterans that eventually followed. "To her credit, she has accepted responsibility," Robinson said. "She knows exactly what she has done." Veterans named in the criminal information filed against her have been reimbursed by the bond companies who had insured Jenkins-Foster when she was the fiduciary of their accounts, her attorney said. Jenkins-Foster now lives in an apartment and has no money left. As part of her plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining three counts against her, although she will still be liable to pay restitution for all the money she embezzled. Prosecutors also agreed to recommend the low-end of sentencing guidelines, with credit for acceptance of responsibility. The former attorney faces up to five years in prison on each of the two counts, although she is likely to get far less, if any, jail time under federal sentencing guidelines. She also faces up to a $250,000 fine. Her sentencing was set for Aug. 22 before U.S. District Judge Monti Belot, a federal judge before whom she once practiced. Her case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger, a former classmate of hers. Published: Wed, Jun 8, 2011