"He's out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct." General Corman in Apocalypse Now.
Attorney Corey Ferraez's long vacation from prosecution may finally be over.
Rankin-Madison District Attorney Bubba Bramlett will prosecute the indictments against Ferraez. Assistant District Attorney Ashley Allen will handle the prosecution.
A Forrest County grand jury indicted attorney Corey Ferraez in October 2021 for embezzlement by attorney, conspiracy to obtain signature with intent to defraud, and mail/wire fraud. Corey's twin brother Jace was also indicted for conspiracy to obtain signature with intent to defraud.
The story begins when Corey was a partner at the Holmes, McLelland, & Farraez law firm. As so many lawyers do, Corey and his firm divorced. The lawyer was "obligated to pay the firm, now McHard, McHard, Anderson, and Associates, PLLC 20% of all attorneys fees in cases included in the settlement agreement.
The list of cases included the representation of Shawn Vaughn. Corey represented Vaughn in a personal injury lawsuit as well as her Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition. Corey settled Vaughn's lawsuit for $650,000. The attorney's fees were $260,000. Thus Corey allegedly owe $52,000 to his former firm. However, the indictment claims he had other ideas.
Count I accuses Corey of filing a bogus lien against the bankruptcy estate on behalf of MMAA for $52,000 in March 2020. The bankruptcy court approved payment of the lien. Thus Corey managed to pay his former law firm by sticking his client with the bill, forcing her to pay $312,000 in attorney's fees.
The case has had a rather curious history. All twelfth circuit court judges recused themselves. The Mississippi Supreme Court appointed Special Circuit Judge Forrest Johnson to hear the case. The Court appointed then-Fourteenth District Attorney Dee Bates to prosecute the case. However, Bates retired and the current District Attorney, Brendan Adams, withdrew from the case in April 2024, claiming his caseload was too great.
No action took place in the case after May 2, 2024 as it's kind of hard to move a case without a prosecutor.
Although it appeared Special Guest Star Judge Forrest Johnson was taking his sweet time, such was not the case.
Judge Johnson directed Forrest County District Attorney Lin Carter to appoint a special prosecutor on April 22, 2024. However, Mr. Carter did not make the appointment as he was not notified of the order.
A media outlet asked Mr. Carter about the order last week. Combine the late notice with the new scrutiny on Corey Ferraez and the wheels of justice finally started moving again.
More Indictments
The Forrest County grand jury indicted Corey in October 2021 for four counts of embezzlement in October 2021.
Counts I & II: This count covers more shenanigans in the Shawn Vaughn case. The indictment states
on or about April 13, 2020, in Forrest County, Mississippi, he, while representing a legal client of HMF, Shawn Vaughn, in a personal injury civil lawsuit, and also in a Chapter 13 Petition for bankruptcy.... did receive a monetary check in the amount of $265,081.33 from the Bankruptcy Trustee, with $260,000 of said amount being the contractual attorney fees owed HMF in their representation of Shawn Vaughn in the personal injury case, entrusted to his care by virtue of his aforesaid office, position, and employment, did then and there willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously, with his intent then and there to cheat and defraud the aforesaid HMF, deposit aforesaid check into a bank account under his control, instead of a bank account belonging to HMF, thereby embezzling and converting to his own use
Count III: The indictment charges Corey embezzled $5,767 in attorney's fees paid by a client, Joseph Pecanty. Although the money was allegedly owed to his former law firm, Corey allegedly deposited the money into his own bank account instead of one belonging to the firm as he was supposed to under the settlement agreement.
Count IV: While working at his former law firm, HMF, Corey represented Marquita Estes in a personal injury lawsuit and bankruptcy petition. The bankruptcy trustee allegedly paid $10,000 out of the Estes estate to Corey for all fees owed to HMF. The indictment charges Corey with embezzling the money by depositing the money in his own bank account instead of passing it on to HMF.
Ferraez currently resides in the Perry County jail after Chancellor Sheila Smallwood ordered his incarceration after he failed to deposit $195,168 with the Court after she directed him to do so.
Kingfish note: The case exposes a dirty little secret of the appointment of special judges. When a special judge is appointed to hear a case, he must rely on the local judiciary to provide him with clerks and staff attorneys. Unfortunately (looking at you, Hinds County), such is often not the case, thus leaving the special judge to handle all tasks normally handled by a clerk or secretary.
What probably took place here is Judge Johnson probably lacks such a staff, hence the order fell through the cracks.
20 comments:
When will the movie be released on Hallmark?
The big guns finally come out!
"To the town of Mississippi
Rode a stranger one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him
Didn't have too much to say
No one dared to ask his business
No one dared to make a slip
The stranger there among them
Had a big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip"
"In this town there lived an outlaw
By the name of Corey Ferraez
Many men had tried to take him
And that many men were dead
He was vicious and a killer
Though a youth of twenty-four
And the notches on his pistol
Numbered one and nineteen more
One and nineteen more"
I recently had a construction and real estate case where Judge Johnson was appointed Special Judge. He was a good judge, but I did have to keep the case moving, administratively. I agree with the commentary.
For the fifth time, where is the MS Bar Assn?
What about the conspiracy charge?
I would like to say that this is a case of a bad lawyer giving good lawyers a bad name, sadly, there are no good lawyers.
Love the Apocalypse Now quote. In that same vein, I believe his command has been terminated.
As I understand it, the Mississippi Bar is not a police force that will (or can) open an investigation based on news reports or court filings. Rule 4 of the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar (promulgated by the Mississippi Supreme Court) states a complaint has to be filed. Thus, the Bar (or similar organization referred to in the Rules of Discipline) will investigate the complaint (which does take time), make its findings, and then in the case of a suspension or disbarment, will present said finding to the Supreme Court.
However, if an attorney subject to Mississippi's Rules of Discipline is convicted, pleads guilty, etc. of a felony or certain misdemeanors (i.e. dishonesty), or loses in civil court on certain claims (i.e. dishonesty), then those convictions or judgments are taken as true and discipline can be applied. I understand that a complaint would still have to be filed.
The Mississippi Bar (nor the MS medical licensing board as I can tell), can't discipline, suspend, or disbar a lawyer based on news reports, pleadings, or even interim court filings. Therefore, in this present matter, I'm not sure what the Bar is supposed to do unless a complaint has been filed and investigated. Don't assume a complaint has been filed, even with the zany facts alleged so far.
@10:42 - For the umpteenth time, the MS Bar adheres to the old principle of "innocent until proven guilty".
In Mississippi it is known as "A Pack of Lips Now."
so where will the trial be held ? will ir be moved to brandon or does bubba go to Hattiesburg?
Venu is Forrest County until changed.
to 10;42.....the bar association is located in a multi million doller building with all the bells and whistles abbot the 600 block of north state street just down from one old green brook flower shop;
closest intersection is state and fornication st.
they got the air conditioning in there turned down so low you could kill a hog.
lots if nice furniture, desks , computer systems, everything a do nothing bureaucrat dreams about . also plenty of six figure salaries , full benefits , and extended lunch hours. covered parking for all the expensive SUVs.
all so these slobs can sit around all day and not do nothing till the bell rings at 5pm.
11:25 that is completely false. The bar association has the authority to act on its own, and it does NOT have to wait around for someone else to make a complaint. So the silence from the bar is truly deafening.
calm down Elmo
I agree with @12:05 pm. As an attorney myself, it is a privilege to practice law. We carry fiduciary responsibilities to our clients, and despite all the lawyer jokes, many of us take our ethical responsibilities very seriously. "Innocent until proven guilty" applies in the criminal context when someone's liberty/life is at stake (as it should). Cory will have that deferential standard in this or any other criminal proceedings. HOWEVER, when it comes to the PRIVILEGE of being a licensed attorney, we have to expect more of ourselves. That is why I have taken such offense to Cory's conduct and been ranting on here. Our profession is just that--a profession. Upon passing the bar, we take an oath to uphold the integrity of that profession. Part of our preamble states we have the responsibility to "further the public's understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice system[.]" Guys like this destroy that confidence. It irks the hell out of me, because if I'm required to adhere to our professional standards, this sleazy prick damn sure needs to as well. Hope the bar brings down the hammer on him.
You started so professionally and then transformed to a name calling juvenile at the end. You almost had me convinced that you are a true professional for a minute there.
The Mississippi Bar is a complete joke. They have received complaints on Ferraez before. Then the first indictment. Then ferraez fled and, while on the run, filed litigation in federal court. The Bar is a total disgrace to the legal profession.
No less than 5 bar complaints were filed against RSS. Bar did nothing.
The Bar has to receive information before it can take it to the complaint tribunal. That means someone has to submit it.
I don't know who the guy is who keeps insisting the Bar should be out patrolling the courthouses, looking for misconduct, but he's wrong.
And FWIW, a professional has a property right in their professional license. It can't be taken away without due process of law. Miss. State Bd. of Contrs. v. Hobbs Constr., LLC, 291 So.3d 762, ¶17 (Miss. 2020).
And 1:42, We heard you the first four times.
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