A Central Florida attorney was arrested on charges of felony grand theft.
On September 4th, 47-year-old Jason Penrod, the owner and attorney of Family Elder Law Firm in Lake Wales, was arrested by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant issued by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Penrod is charged with felony Grand Theft as a result of an ongoing investigation for stealing over $1.7 million from the Living Trust account of a deceased Polk County resident.
Penrod, a resident of Winter Haven, was located at outside of Ocala in Marion County. Marion County Sheriff’s Office helped PCSO detectives serve the warrant issued by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
According to PCSO detectives, Jason Penrod questioned why he was being arrested and was distraught at the time of his arrest. Penrod stated he had an attorney who contacted the State Attorney’s office about this incident and believed the issue was being handled. He declined to speak with detectives further.
During the investigation, PCSO detectives discovered that Penrod had flown to Pennsylvania to confess his theft to the adult son and daughter of one of his clients, who had passed away.
Penrod gave the son of his deceased victim a letter addressed to both him and his sister, in which he claimed he was dealing with mental and personal stress and to cope he would frequently gamble. His gambling compulsion increased to where he had “exhausted our family’s savings, [and] my law firm’s profits.” He stated that “being out of money and having a personal bank account at the same bank holding the trust funds, the perfect storm ensued in October 2023” and “Over the next 3 months, I frequently transferred funds from your Trust account to my personal account” to fund his gambling at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino.
“It is heartbreaking and insulting that a lawyer, who this victim placed his trust in, would cheat not only his victim, but the victim’s family, including children and grandchildren,” said Sheriff Grady Judd. “We rely on lawyers to uphold the law and demonstrate integrity. Penrod did neither. His excuses are just that – he promised when he was given his license to practice law that he would protect his clients – and he has done the exact opposite.”
PCSO found that Penrod’s former associate attorney had discovered the misuse of client funds and reported him to the Florida Bar Association. Since the report by his former associate, Penrod then reported himself to the Florida State Supreme Court for misuse of funds from two clients’ trusts.
PCSO detectives have confirmed that Penrod has been to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa multiple times this year, and has lost over $1.7 million gambling. Detectives also obtained copies of the suspect’s bank records, which showed that he stole $1,705,000 from the victim’s trust account and put it into his own personal bank accounts.
So far, his bank records show that Penrod has wired directly to the Hard Rock Casino was $1,207,120, and he has also withdrawn $24,511.45 from ATMs at the Hard Rock. Detectives are still investigating his financials.
The investigation into Jason Penrod is still ongoing, according to local law enforcement. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office believes that he has stolen money from other client victims.
