Ky Attorney Allegedly Lost 1.6 Million Gambling, Charged with Embezzling from Clients

A Kentucky attorney is charged with embezzling from clients to pay gambling losses exceeding 1.6 million dollars.

Federal officials say Greensburg attorney Danny P. Butler, 71,  is facing multiple counts of wire fraud as part of a scheme to take money from his law clients to cover more than a million dollars in gambling debt.

The United States Attorneys Office says Butler was charged by a federal grand jury on November 15th and made his first appearance in federal Court on Tuesday in Bowling Green.

Officials say he maintained seven personal and business bank accounts from August 2009 to October 2016, which he used to mingle funds from clients, as well as use their funds from the accounts to make cash withdrawals and pay personal expenses.

Between those seven years, Butler incurred gambling losses totaling over 1.6 million dollars that he paid for in large part by misappropriation of funds from eleven clients, officials say.

If convicted, he could be sentenced up to twenty years in prison, fined $250,000, and be required to serve a three year period of supervised release.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and Kentucky State Police.