Hiring Disbarred Lawyer Was a Mistake, Ex-Judge Says
Hiring—and trusting—a disbarred lawyer known for his 1980s involvement in a bizarre condoms-for-chickens scam was a mistake, a retired Michigan judge says.
“Former Clinton Township district court judge William Cannon blamed his criminal woes on his legal researcher Timothy Mucciante today at an adjourned preliminary exam,” reports the Detroit Free Press.
Mucciante, 49, who is serving a federal prison term in a bank fraud case, is accused along with Cannon, 74, of conspiracy and embezzlement concerning some $100,000 allegedly stolen in 2006 from the estate of Stewart Ricard III while Cannon, who was then practicing in the community, was serving as custodian.
As a young lawyer in the 1980s, Mucciante captured attention for persuading investors to give him $75,000 for a fictitious business venture in which $3 million was to be made by bartering British condoms for Russian chickens, which would then be sold in Saudi Arabia, the newspaper recounts.
Cannon hired Mucciante, who was convicted in the condoms-for-chickens case, to help Mucciante get his law license back, the ex-judge says. “That’s where I made my mistake. I trusted him and he turned it all around on me.”
Earlier coverage:
Minority Report: “Michigan judge faces embezzling charges”
