BOSTON — A Boston-based lawyer was sentenced Tuesday in federal court for defrauding two clients of more than $2 million.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Patrick J. Dolan, 60, of North Attleboro and Haverhill, was sentenced on March 10, 2026, in federal court in Boston by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 39 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Dolan practiced law at Cornell Dolan, P.C., a firm he co-founded located at 10 Post Office Square in Boston.
The court also ordered Dolan to pay $2,022,833 in restitution and a $2,087,372.55 money judgment.
Dolan pleaded guilty in October 2025 to four counts of wire fraud. He was charged in July 2025.
According to federal prosecutors, between November 2018 and November 2024, Dolan stole more than $2 million he had been holding in escrow while representing a party in a family trust lawsuit. Prosecutors said Dolan used the stolen funds for himself and family members, including transferring money to shell companies, using the funds to pay mortgages, tuition and student loan payments, as well as personal expenses.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Dolan also stole at least $87,500 from a supplemental needs trust he established for another client. The money was used as a down payment on a property in Haverhill where Dolan later lived with his family. In addition, prosecutors say Dolan falsified bank statements and accounting records, and made false statements to clients and other individuals about the stolen funds.
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, announced the sentence.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina E. Barclay of the Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
