Former Little Rock Attorney Matthew Henry was sentenced Wednesday to 33 months in federal prison for stealing more than $400,000 from a client.
Henry, who operated the Henry Firm, waived indictment and pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud. He admitted to taking his client’s money and using it for business and personal expenses, according to documents in U.S. District Court in Little Rock.
U.S. District Court Judge D.P. Marshall Jr. also sentenced Henry to serve two years of probation and pay more than $440,000 in restitution.
Arkansas Business first reported in May that Henry was being investigated by police after $425,000 in client money went missing. The money was connected to a Jefferson County probate case involving the estate of Keshavlal Patel, who was a client of Henry’s.
In January 2018, the estate hired attorney Brandon Haubert of the law firm Wilson & Haubert of North Little Rock to be its new attorney. Haubert asked Henry to transfer the estate’s $400,000 to Haubert’s firm, but Henry never did. Evidence later showed that Henry, through the Henry Firm’s operating account, spent the money on meals and personal expenses.
Henry began practicing law in 2005 and in 2013 was listed as one of Little Rock’s Best Lawyers in Little Rock Soirée, the monthly magazine published by Arkansas Business Publishing Group, which also publishes Arkansas Business.
Henry pleaded guilty to the wire fraud charge in September. He was sentenced Wednesday by Judge D.P. Marshall Jr.
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