CONCORD -- On Oct. 27, 2008, Janet Stites' mother died and left her an inheritance of more than $400,000.

Stites, who is blind, hired an attorney, but on the advice of her friend Richard Stickney, she fired that attorney and hired 56-year-old Concord lawyer Timothy Darden to set up two trusts for her. Within a year, Darden had allegedly swindled $438,000 from Stites and $33,500 from Stickney, and days after they complained to the State Bar of California, he turned around and sued them for fraud.

"I've been scammed by the damned devil himself," said Stites, a 65-year-old double organ transplant recipient.

Screen shot of the website of disbarred attorney Timothy Darden.

"My mom knew how hard it is to be blind to make it in the world, especially when you're poor," she said. "Meanwhile, Darden lives high on the hog, driving his fancy Lexus and sticking his nose in the air like he's God almighty himself."

On Jan. 13, Darden pleaded no contest to two felony grand theft charges and must serve 30 days in jail and pay $471,500 in restitution to his two victims over a five-year probation period, prosecutor Dodie Katague said. He was disbarred a year ago.

The UC Berkeley Law School graduate, who, according to his website, had practiced personal injury, business, bankruptcy and corporate law since 1990, still proclaims his innocence.


"I pleaded no contest to get it behind me. It was just way too expensive," Darden said in a phone interview Friday, adding that he did not believe a jury would understand the complicated nature of the case. "This was only $500,000. For me to risk my law license or jail time over it ... that's absurd."

The story began in November 2008, when Stickney, who was also a family friend of Darden for 45 years, recommended the Concord attorney handle Stites' two living trusts. The pair were unaware of Darden's mounting financial issues.

In January and April 2009, Chase Bank and American Express, respectively, sued Darden for $30,000 in unpaid credit card charges, according to Contra Costa court records. On March 18, 2009, Darden filed for bankruptcy, claiming he owed almost $1.2 million while possessing only $130,000 in assets.

It was during these dire financial straits that Darden convinced Stites to funnel her inheritance through an aunt and then on to Stickney, who then cut multiple checks totaling more than $400,000 to Darden's bank account between February and May 2009, Katague said.

Darden explained to the friends that by setting up the trust that way, Stites could continue receiving her monthly disability payments, according to the State Bar records. Despite receiving that money, Darden, who had filed more than a dozen bankruptcy cases on behalf of clients, did not claim any of it in his own filing, records show.

On Jan. 31, 2011, Darden "coerced" Stickney into signing a fake loan agreement to make it look like the inheritance money was given to the lawyer as a loan, according to the State Bar.

"He claimed it was a loan, but we were able to show it wasn't," Katague said. "He spent the money on personal items, Costco, car payments, stuff like that."

A month later, Stickney and Stites became suspicious and hired another attorney. The pair also filed a complaint with the State Bar.

On Feb. 20, 2012, the State Bar filed a notice of disciplinary charges against Darden, eventually finding him culpable of two acts of moral turpitude, misappropriating client funds.

Six days after the notice, Darden sued the couple claiming they defrauded him.

"He definitely took the 'offense is the best defense' approach," Katague said. "He not only sued the them, he accused the State Bar of wrongdoing."

In Darden's lawsuit, he claimed Stickney was reneging on a $500,000 loan agreement. Darden alleged Stickney came to him saying Stites worried she would go to jail for tax evasion, welfare fraud and money laundering but that he told them he would not "cover" for them.

"This all originated from a bad loan from a family friend," Darden said by phone.

Stickney, 66, who is also disabled after surviving polio as a child, said his former friend attacked him in court filings.

"He called me a drug addict, a gun dealer, a drug dealer and said I killed Janet's mom," Stickney said. "It's completely fake. It made me spend 95 percent of my time defending myself. ... He turned it completely around."

By December 2012, Darden's lawsuit was dismissed, but Katague charged him criminally in May 2014.

In search warrants, investigators found doctored documents, such as checks with forged memos, and emails sent by Darden to the State Bar pretending to be his own paralegal, and backdated paperwork, including a fraudulent loan agreement, Katague said.

The years of court battles have sapped the strength and retirement savings of Stites and Stickney, who hold little faith that Darden will pay back the money.

"It's been eight years that he's been using my money," Stites said, her voice cracking. "He stole my parents' whole lives away, what they saved up. ... I feel like I might as well be dead."

Darden has not served his jail time yet, and despite the conviction and disbarment, his law firm website remains active.

"We're taking steps to take down the website, and if it doesn't come down he can be charged with a crime," Katague said.

Darden said he hasn't practiced law in a decade and will take down or "adjust" his website. He said he hopes to have his law license reinstated once he completes his probation.

Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.