POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A disbarred attorney, who allegedly told his clients he lost their trust funds because of his gambling addiction, was back in front of a judge Thursday on dozens of new money laundering charges.
Penrod has been behind bars since his arrest on one count of grand theft at an addiction recovery facility in Marion County in September.
Prosecutors and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office filed additional charges this week, totaling 32 money laundering and grand theft charges.
"Based on the facts of this case, your honor, and the exceedingly high amounts of money that are alleged to be stolen from the victim's, your honor, the state is requesting elevated bonds,” said prosecutor Matthew Hendry at Penrod’s first appearance Thursday.
The judge ordered Penrod be held on no bond.
Penrod’s attorney did not dispute probable cause or bond.
Last summer, Penrod abruptly closed his law firm, Family Elder Law, in Polk County.
According to a civil lawsuit and criminal affidavit, he admitted to gambling away a $1.7 million trust fund at the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.
“As a raging addict by this time, I self-justified my actions by thinking that I was temporarily loaning monies to myself and then would pay them back to the trust with interest. My compulsion was in overdrive, and it felt like I was watching a nightmare of myself in a movie…almost like an out of body experience,” wrote Penrod in a letter to his clients.
Records show Penrod traveled to Pennsylvania in June 2024 to try to convince the clients to allow him to pay them back.
"Rather than managing the money for the benefit of his children, managing this fellow's life work, he took it upon himself to raid the cookie jar,” said Brice Zoecklein, an attorney at the firm that followed a lawsuit against Penrod on behalf of the alleged victims.
According to a new affidavit filed this week involving a different alleged victim, Penrod moved thousands of dollars back and forth between the victim’s living trust, Penrod’s personal checking account and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which operates the Hard Rock Casino.
"He has set up the system, the process, the excuse 'Oh I just need help I need help. What you need is a jail cell. What you need is accountability and responsibility,” said Sheriff Grady Judd at a news conference in September.
If Penrod were to get out of jail, he would not be able to practice law in Florida.
The Florida Bar revoked his license late last year without the ability to reapply.
