By Abigail Curtis
Bangor Daily News, Maine/TNS
BELFAST, Maine—The Belfast lawyer who was sentenced this spring to 30 months in prison for bilking elderly clients of nearly $500,000 has been disbarred from practicing in the state of Maine.
William Dawson also will need to reimburse the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar more than $10,000 for the costs accrued during the disciplinary proceeding, Associate Justice Donald Alexander of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court wrote in his August 1 decision.
But the court declined the board’s request to disbar Dawson for life. The ruling does not indicate when Dawson might be able to reapply to practice law. Dawson pleaded guilty in March to two counts of felony theft and three counts of failing to pay state income taxes, and he was sentenced to five years in prison with all but two and a half years suspended to be followed by three years of probation.