Dane Thomas Wilson Gets 30 Months for Client Fraud

Dane Thomas Wilson, 61, of Oklahoma City, is headed to federal prison for 30 months after admitting to a calculated scheme to steal from his own clients. The former Norman attorney used his law practice as a front to siphon off insurance settlement funds meant for those who trusted him, leaving some with nothing while he lined his pockets.

On February 24, 2016, Wilson pled guilty to wire fraud and willful failure to file a federal income tax return for 2011. Between December 2010 and December 31, 2011, while licensed and practicing in Norman, Oklahoma, he funneled client money through a trust account, then wrote checks to himself, made cash withdrawals, and transferred funds far beyond the legal fees he was entitled to collect.

One particularly brazen theft involved $40,000 pulled from First American Bank in Oklahoma using interstate wire communications routed through the bank’s processor in Texas. The money was part of an insurance settlement owed entirely to Wilson’s client, identified as R.F., and was illegally diverted by Wilson for personal use.

Wilson admitted that his actions left multiple clients shortchanged or completely unpaid following settlements and judgments he obtained on their behalf. The breach of trust cuts deep in a profession bound by ethics and fiduciary duty—yet Wilson treated client accounts like a personal slush fund.

In addition to the wire fraud charge, Wilson confessed to skipping out on his 2011 federal income tax return entirely, compounding his crimes with a deliberate effort to hide his ill-gotten gains from the IRS. A restitution hearing is scheduled for January 2017 to determine how much he must repay both his victims and the government.

The case was jointly investigated by the Norman Police Department, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma Bar Association, FBI, and IRS-Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Maxfield Green handled the prosecution. U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGuisti handed down the 30-month sentence, sending a message that even those sworn to uphold the law won’t escape justice when they break it.