Cape Cod Gambling Addict

Ex-attorney says he stole $650,000

By George Brennan
BARNSTABLE — A disbarred Dennis lawyer admitted Friday that he stole $650,000 from a client to feed his gambling habit.

John "Jack" Roberts Jr., 59, pleaded guilty in Barnstable Superior Court to one count of larceny over $250 by a single scheme.

Once a respected real estate attorney, baseball coach and town volunteer, he used his client's money to fuel an obsession with online poker, according to court records.

Prosecutors said Roberts stole $650,000 from Middleboro resident Norman Sasville and wired the bulk of it to gambling websites.

Roberts was sent to Taunton State Hospital for a pre-sentencing psychological evaluation, said Nicole Manoog, an assistant district attorney in Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe's office.

"He's had some issues," she said.

Attorney Edward Lynch, who represented Roberts, declined to comment. But in September he told the court that Roberts has been treated for mental health issues and twice attempted suicide while his previous case was pending.

The judge sent Roberts to Taunton to help to determine a sentence that would be appropriate, Manoog said.

This is the second time Roberts has been convicted of bilking a client out of cash so he could gamble it away. In 2007, he was sentenced to house arrest after pleading guilty to stealing $137,000 from the estate of the late Alice May. At the time, he had control of the Sandwich woman's $600,000 estate.

In both cases, the clients told the Times they trusted Roberts with their money and thought of him as a friend.

Sasville declined to comment yesterday, but Manoog said she expects he will address the court at the sentencing hearing June 9.