Former Calif. Superior Court Judge Charged with Embezzlement, Theft From an Elder

A 68-year-old former attorney and Los Angeles Superior Court judge has been charged with embezzling $176,000 from four clients including an elderly woman on life support, the District Attorney’s Office announced.

Huey Percy Shepard, (dob 6-19-36), was arrested by the D.A.’s Bureau of Investigation on a felony complaint for arrest warrant, said Deputy District Attorney Edward Miller with the Justice System Integrity Division.

Shepard was charged in case No. BA265868 with one count of theft from elder or dependent adult, one count of perjury, four counts of grand theft by embezzlement, one count of preparing a false document and one count of writing a bad check with special allegations that the loss to victims exceeded $150,000 and an aggravated white collar crime enhancement. He was being held in lieu of $226,000 bail.

Shepard, who served as a Superior Court Judge from 1975 to 1981, allegedly embezzled $99,000 from a 90-year-old woman on life support who was forced to sell her home to pay for medical care. Shepard was hired as an attorney to help the woman’s daughter with her mother’s conservatorship. Shepard allegedly bounced a $13,950 check to the Sunray East Convalescent Hospital and falsely claimed in court documents that he made nearly $10,000 in payments for the victim’s care which were actually made by the daughter.

In addition, Shepard allegedly embezzled more than $62,000 from a probate estate and embezzled more than $12,000 from a client’s settlement check in a personal injury lawsuit. The thefts allegedly occurred between December 1992 to April 2002. He has since resigned from the State Bar.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years, 4 months in state prison.