A disbarred Georgia attorney, who is accused of killing his mother, was captured Monday in Nashville, Tennessee after months on the run, the US Marshals Service said.
A disbarred Georgia attorney, who is accused of killing his mother, was captured Monday in Nashville, Tennessee after months on the run, the US Marshals Service said.
In February, Richard Merritt had been sentenced to 15 years in prison and 15 years on probation after being convicted of stealing money from his clients and elder abuse. When he failed to turn himself in, Merritt cut his ankle monitor and fled, the Marshals Service said
Merritt’s mother, Shirley Merritt, was found dead the next day; her vehicle was missing and her son’s vehicle was found at the scene, the Marshals Service said.
Merritt was arrested by the Marshals Service at a thrift store.
Nashville Police Department transferred him to the Davidson County Jail where he’ll face extradition to Georgia, the US Marshal Service said. Records showed Merritt was booked in Hill Detention Center in Nashville.
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Merritt was found guilty on more than 30 counts admitted to settling civil lawsuits on his clients’ behalf without their knowledge, forging signatures on settlement checks and documents and keeping money intended for his clients, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office said in a statementbefore Merritt was sentenced.
He ordered to pay $454,706 in restitution to his clients, prosecutors said.
The attorney who represented Merritt in the initial case declined to comment.
