This ex-lawyer was supposed to help Tri-Citians pay their taxes. He kept their money instead

A former Tri-City attorney who helped clients with tax problems has gone to prison for stealing their money.

Christopher Lee Neal, 45, is now in Walla Walla’s Washington State Penitentiary, a week after he was sentenced in a Kennewick courtroom.

Neal was ordered to spend 2 1/2 years in a state prison for taking nearly $330,000.

He pleaded guilty three months earlier in Benton County Superior Court to two counts of first-degree theft, which included the aggravating circumstance of being a major economic offense.

The standard range for a first-time offender is two to six months in county jail.

However, because of the significant theft, Deputy Prosecutor Terry Bloor asked for an exceptional sentence with prison time.

Defense attorney Scott Johnson suggested one year on electronic home monitoring.

Judge Sam Swanberg went with Bloor’s recommendation of 2 1/2 years.

The judge also ordered $362,000 in restitution for four clients and the Washington State Bar Association.

That amount includes extra for interest and penalties to the Internal Revenue Service and payments to another tax expert who was brought in to help with the victims’ problems, said Bloor.

The state bar’s client protection fund previously reimbursed $150,000 to a Kennewick couple and $65,708 to a rural Kennewick man. Those former clients still have unpaid balances totaling $121,283, he said.

Neal also must pay $25,000 to a Pasco woman, another former client. Prosecutors did not include her in the charges with the understanding that Neal would pay her restitution once the case was resolved.

Neal became a lawyer in January 2003 and had a law office on West Grandridge Boulevard. He was disbarred this past February following an investigation by the state bar.

The couple went to Neal to help with seven years of back taxes they owed to the IRS. At one point, they gave a $65,000 cashier’s check to cover three years worth and expected it to go to the federal agency, but Neal deposited it in a business bank account.

The lawyer was suspended by the state bar in early 2016, but he kept working for the couple. They again gave him more money to go toward taxes, but no payments were ever made.

Neal handled personal and corporate taxes for the Kennewick man, but kept almost $66,000 in tax refunds instead of giving it to the client. He used his own business address in place of the client’s home address and his business bank account to get direct deposits from the IRS.