Stacey Barchenger

sbarchenger@tennessean.com

A Nashville personal injury lawyer will stay in jail until late October then serve 10 years under supervision for stealing more than $330,000 from his clients, according to a judge's order.

John L. Lowery, 50, was taken into custody in late July when he appeared for a sentencing hearing before Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier. Dozier said in that hearing he wanted to weigh how much time Lowery should spend locked up and how much time he should spend out of jail, working to repay restitution.

Dozier decided Lowery should stay in jail until Oct. 29, then be released on community corrections for 10 years, according to his order.

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The judge had some harsh words for Lowery on the message his crimes send about lawyers.

"His deceit strikes at the very heart of our legal system, a system wherein a lawyer should be a guiding light steering clients through the process in pursuit of justice rather than a dark force deceiving those who have rightfully placed in the lawyer their trust through a tangled web of lies to benefit not the client, but the lawyer," Dozier wrote in an Aug. 11 ruling.

Prosecutors said Lowery settled nine cases without his clients’ knowledge or consent, signed their names to settlement checks without their permission, misappropriated the settlement funds and made misrepresentations to the clients to make them think their cases were progressing normally. He pleaded guilty to theft and forgery charges for stealing more than $300,000 from his clients.

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.