Landover bankruptcy lawyer sentenced to 18 months for fraud

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jan 25, 2005 by Peter Geier

A former Landover bankruptcy lawyer who may be the only non- member of the state bar ever to be disbarred was sentenced to 18 months' incarceration for bankruptcy fraud and fraudulent transfer of property in bankruptcy yesterday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

Bridgette M. Harris, 46, who had pled guilty last March, was also ordered to pay $8,765 in restitution to former clients and to cooperate with creditors holding civil judgments against her, according to a statement released by the office of acting U.S. Attorney Allen F. Loucks.

Harris committed crimes in which she 'set out to lure people who were vulnerable because of their financial situation,' the U.S. Attorney's office noted, quoting U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow, and earn[ed] money in a way that was totally inappropriate.

Timothy J. Sullivan, Harris' lawyer, said Chasanow's sentence reflects recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions in U.S v. Booker and U.S. v. Fanfan, which made sentencing guidelines advisory rather than mandatory.

The court imposed a sentence a little less than the guidelines would have required, Sullivan said, adding that he thought Chasanow had taken into consideration Harris' history of mental illness and alcohol abuse.

Harris had faced a maximum five years' imprisonment and $250,000 fine.

She had admitted, among other things, in a statement of facts that in 2002, she solicited bankruptcy clients with a toll-free telephone number under the business name Foreclosure Prevention Network. Her agents met clients, obtained fees from them and filed bankruptcy petitions using a Landover attorney's name without that attorney's permission.

Harris, who maintained that she had taken only bankruptcy cases and was admitted to the state's federal courts, was disbarred by consent from the practice of law in Maryland in December 2002 under Maryland Rule 16-772.

In addition to having been suspended from practicing in Maryland's federal district and bankruptcy courts, Harris had also been suspended from practicing in federal district and bankruptcy courts in the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and ordered to disgorge fees she had received from certain clients, according to Loucks' statement.