Former Nelson lawyer Singleton convicted of theft, fraud
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
After years on the run from the law and legal entanglements in the U.S., former Nelson lawyer Marvin Singleton was convicted in Nelson Supreme Court of theft and fraud of an estate he was the executor for.
Justice Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey found the 77-year-old Singleton guilty of taking almost $500,000 in the early 1990s that was supposed to go to the beneficiaries of John George.
Singleton left Nelson in 1993 for the U.S. but in 1997 he was charged with misappropriating more than $800,000 from the estates of two of his Nelson clients.
Eleven years after he left, at age 71, a deputy U.S. marshal arrested him in Wichita, Kan., where he was living in a basement suite and working as a part-time college English instructor and librarian.
Singleton was locked up in various U.S. prisons awaiting extradition back to Canada for more than two years. He made his first appearance at the Nelson Courthouse last year in October to face the charges against him.
His 11-week trial wrapped up earlier this year. Sentencing will be Feb. 11 although the judge has yet to rule on a Charter of Rights challenge this month.
