ALBANY – A 61-year-old lawyer and financial adviser has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the theft of $12 million from the family trusts of three sisters in upstate New York.
The Times Union reports Thomas Lagan of Cooperstown pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to charges of money laundering and filing a false tax return. He previously pleaded guilty to grand larceny in state court in Albany.
Lagan and a former Albany-area town justice were accused of using a real estate scam to bilk the trusts.
The former Guilderland judge, Richard Sherwood, has pleaded guilty to grand larceny and faces 40 months to 10 years in prison.
The fraud scheme targeted trusts set up by Albany-area philanthropists Warren and Pauline Bruggeman. It also targeted trusts for Pauline Bruggeman’s sisters.
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