Thomas W. Dickson, Wire Fraud, Georgia 2013

A former Atlanta attorney has been sentenced to prison for stealing over $300,000 from his clients.

Thomas W. Dickson, 53, of Boulder, Colo., was sentenced by United States District Judge Willis B. Hunt, Jr., to 12 months and one day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, with the first six months of supervised release to be served in home confinement, 120 hours of community service, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $175,951.98.

The crime occurred between February 24, 2010, and January 6, 2012, when Dickson fraudulently directed his law firm’s accounting department to unlawfully transfer over $300,000 from the law firm’s trust account to a checking account controlled by Dickson and his wife.

Dickson was retained by Tenants In Common (TIC), owners of commercial real estate purchased through DBSI Inc., an Idaho-based company. DBSI sold TIC investments or fractional ownership interests in commercial real estate to investors across the country.

According to United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: In December 2008, while employed with a large Atlanta law firm, Dickson was retained by TIC to represent their interests in the bankruptcy action. In 2009, Dickson encouraged TIC owners to transfer rents and other income into his law firm’s trust account.

Dickson pled guilty to wire fraud on August 14, 2013. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey A. Brown prosecuted the case.

For further information, please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

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