Fake Missouri Lawyer Gets 4-Month Sentence

Posted: Thursday, June 28, 2012 9:09 am | Updated: 9:30 am, Thu Jun 28, 2012.

Fake Missouri Lawyer Gets 4-Month Sentence Associated Press |

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A man who falsely presented himself as a successful lawyer, millionaire entrepreneur and candidate for Missouri lieutenant governor is now an inmate.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/LCyIeW ) reports that 31-year-old Dustin Mitchell has been sentenced in St. Louis County to four months behind bars. He pleaded guilty to a theft charge relating to a $1,000 retainer fee he accepted in January while pretending to be a lawyer.

Mitchell also filed court documents in three other criminal cases. In one of them, while representing an Arnold man accused of attacking a hospital security guard, he persuaded a judge to reduce the man's bail and release the man from jail.

Mitchell's scheme imploded when he represented himself in a small claims suit and used a real lawyer's Missouri Bar number.

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Posted in State on Thursday, June 28, 2012 9:09 am. Updated: 9:30 am.