CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Effective September 16, 2016, the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Carrie Leigh Gasaway from the practice of law until further orders of the Court.
Gasaway was suspended based upon her guilty plea and conviction for felony theft over $10,000.
The matter has been referred to the Board to institute formal proceedings to determine the extent of the final discipline to be imposed upon Gasaway as a result of her conviction of a serious crime.
Following her guilty plea, Gasaway was sentenced to three years in jail. However, she was given a split sentence and will serve 40 days in jail, followed by two years and 325 days of unsupervised probation.
Gasaway was disbarred in October 2015 by the Tennessee Supreme Court after being convicted of extortion in Montgomery County.
She was later indicted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on three counts of theft.
Gasaway operated a law firm in Clarksville until July 2015. During the course of the investigation, agents developed information that Gasaway had commingled funds between her attorney trust account and operating account from January 2014 through February 2015.
Agents learned that Gasaway did not disperse approximately $45,831 owed to one client, and approximately $2,000 for medical bills in the name of another client. The Gasaway law firm operating account was closed with a negative balance and the trust account was closed in August 2015 with approximately $1,200 in the account.
The investigation also revealed that Gasaway kept approximately $1,000 of trust money paid by a third client for depositions and court costs related to a case for which that client hired Gasaway.
Two of the three counts were dismissed in court.