His law career over, ex-addict from Sunrise now helps others recover: South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "John Cates let drug and alcohol addiction ruin a successful career as a criminal attorney, husband and father. Now, the 49-year-old from Sunrise is helping others as the co-owner of a drug and alcohol treatment center.
Cates lost his license to practice law in March 1993, after felony convictions for selling narcotics and grand theft in 1991 and 1992.
Lacking a law license, Cates opened a paralegal business and was convicted in 1996 and 2000 of defrauding at least 13 people out of more than $20,000. He served more than 2 1/2 years in jail.
'I fell into disgrace as a practicing attorney,' Cates said. 'Drugs were OK then. It was part of my fast life of being a lawyer. After a while I began to live to use [drugs]. I was always using. My disbarment and incarceration was the end result of that life.'"
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment