The Minnesota Supreme Court has banned Woodbury attorney Kristi McNeilly from practicing law in the state, three years after she was convicted of theft by swindle for stealing $15,000 from a man who hired her to defend him in a drug case.
The high court’s opinion, rendered Wednesday, upheld a referee’s decision, which found that McNeilly “committed a criminal act that reflected negatively on her honesty and trustworthiness,” according to the opinion. “She stole $15,000 from a client by telling the client that the money was needed to bribe government officials to dismiss pending drug charges.”
The referee recommended McNeilly, who waived her right to an evidentiary hearing, be disbarred, and the court agreed.
“Misappropriation of client funds ‘is a breach of trust that reflects poorly on the entire legal profession and erodes the public’s confidence in lawyers,’” the opinion states.
She also was ordered to pay $900 in costs related to the case, the court’s opinion said.
McNeilly did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
McNeilly, a criminal defense attorney, was sentenced in Hennepin County District Court in 2022 to 180 days in the county workhouse after being convicted of theft-by-swindle two months prior. She also was ordered to pay back the $15,000 to her client.
She was hired in May 2018 to represent a 39-year-old Minnetonka man suspected of keeping illegal drugs in his home. The drugs were discovered during a search by the Southwest Hennepin Drug Taskforce, according to the criminal complaint. Although the man was a suspect, Her client was not immediately charged with a crime.
In November 2018, McNeilly told her client that she had spoken with the lead investigator and prosecuting attorney in his case, and that it could be resolved if her client made a payment of between $35,000 and $50,000 to a police union.
McNeilly’s client was able to collect only $15,000, which he handed over to McNeilly. Three days later, her client changed his mind and asked McNeilly for his money back, but McNeilly said she already forwarded it to the police union, according to the complaint.
After McNeilly’s client hired a new lawyer, police discovered that McNeilly had never been in contact with the lead investigator or the prosecutor, and that she spent a portion of her client’s money on mortgage and credit-card payments, the complaint said.
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The director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility filed a petition for disciplinary action against McNeilly in connection with the case.
McNeilly, who was admitted to practice law in Minnesota in 2004, had twice been previously disciplined by the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility. She was publicly reprimanded and placed on probation for three years in 2015 and admonished in 2016, the opinion states.
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