Polk County attorney accused of bilking clients out of millions to fund gambling habit, Judd says

POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference on Thursday to discuss the arrest of an attorney who’s accused of grand theft.

Jason Penrod, 47, was arrested Wednesday night in Marion County on a warrant regarding a first-degree felony charge of grand theft over $100,000.

Penrod is named as the defendant in a lawsuit filed Aug. 21 in Polk County which levels accusations that he transferred roughly $1,750,000 from the plaintiffs’ trust fund to his own personal account, monies which he then allegedly wired to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa until they were “completely exhausted.”

“The folks that he ripped off, the victims, was a brother and a sister who had a trust from their now-deceased father. In fact, Jason Penrod flew to Pennsylvania to look the trustees in the eye and say, ‘I took your money. Not only did I take your money, I took $1.7 million. I wiped out the trust , but I’m going to pay it back. You see, I had a problem, I have this raging addiction, it was at the Hard Rock, I was a gambler,’” Judd said.

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]

At Thursday’s news conference, Judd said that Penrod — who worked as a family and elderly services attorney — also stole from at least two additional victims, altogether to the tune of some $4 million.

“We’re working hand in glove with the state attorney’s office and we find out that, ah-ha, potentially there’s at least two more victims, up to four, and another $2 million that’s missing, so we’re up to $4 million,” Judd said.

According to Judd, Penrod was arrested at a care facility in Marion County, where the sheriff said he was hiding out as his lawyer otherwise promised things were being worked out with the state attorney.

“News flash, this is how we’re ‘working it out’ with the state attorney,” Judd said. “More investigation is needed to get to the bottom of this.”

Watch the news conference again in the video player below or by clicking here.

Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: