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Lawyer accused of stealing over $31K from jailed woman after she signed power of attorney at his request

By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 13, 2024, 9:51 am CST

A lawyer in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, has been accused of stealing more than $31,000 from an imprisoned woman awaiting a competency hearing after she agreed to sign an agreement giving power of attorney to his employee.

Lawyer John Allen Roth, 69, of Pennsylvania is accused of using the stolen money to support his gambling habit, according to a Nov. 7 press release.

TribLive (here and here) and WJAC-TV are among the publications with coverage.

Roth has been charged with nine felonies, including theft, financial exploitation, deceptive business practices and receiving stolen property.

In a preliminary arraignment last week, Roth asked to be released without cash bail.

Roth said he was struggling financially after losing clients because of a cancer diagnosis, according to TribLive’s coverage.

“I don’t have money to be able to post anything at all, I don’t even have $1,000 to post,” he said. “Cancer has ruined my life, and it has made it impossible for me to even make a living.”

Pennsylvania Judge Chris Flanigan set bail at $250,000. Roth has since sought a bail reduction and a venue transfer from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

The 70-year-old jailed woman told detectives that Roth visited her in prison and offered to represent her for $2,500, even though she already had a lawyer. He returned a few days later and allegedly asked the woman to sign the power of attorney. The woman signed the form in March, according to the press release.

Fourteen withdrawals ranging from $100 to $5,000 were made from the jailed woman’s account, court records indicate.

Roth’s “Player’s Club” account at the Live! Casino indicated that he made more than $382,000 in transactions at the casino from April to September, according to the press release.

The employee with power of attorney sometimes accompanied Roth to the casino, she told investigators. She is also facing charges in the case.

Roth was disciplined in 2016, receiving a public reprimand for alleged conflicts of interest in two cases. In one, Roth filed a divorce case against a client he was representing in a civil matter, the reprimand said.

In another, Roth filed a bankruptcy for a woman, even though he represented her husband in their divorce case. The husband was listed as a co-debtor for various creditors, the reprimand said.