A Maryland attorney and accountant who stole almost $2 million from an elderly client got a stiff prison sentence.
On Monday, Montgomery County judge sentenced Jonathan Robbins to 40 years in prison – with all but 12 years suspended — for stealing $1.8 million from a woman who had asked him in 2013 for help managing her estate. The woman was an 88-year-old widow who wanted to ensure her daughter would be financially secure after her passing.
Instead, Robbins methodically stole from her. Prosecutors said Robbins lived the high life for six years on the woman’s money, moving from a modest townhouse into a 6,600-square-foot house on 2.5 acres in Potomac, buying furniture, computers, artwork and watches. They also said he continued
Robbins was indicted in 2019; he was convicted last June.
Prosecutors had asked that Robbins be required to serve 18 to 20 years behind bars before being released on probation. They said Robbins had shown no remorse and was guilty of pure and simple greed. They said he “chose over and over again to betray the trust of his client, someone he knew was vulnerable.” They called his thefts “an egregious exploitation of a senior citizen … and her family.”
The woman, who had worked as a church secretary and saved and invested her money over decades, died in 2017 at 91. Prosecutors called her the perfect victim: someone who trusted others, had a lot of money, had dementia and had no friends or family nearby to watch out for her.
A restitution hearing is planned for February.
