Former Exec Sentenced For Embezzling $1.5M From Morristown Law Firm

MORRISTOWN, NJ — The former Chief Financial Officer of a major Morristown law firm has been sentenced to prison after embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and evading his taxes, officials said.

Earlier this year, John Dunlea had pleaded guilty to charges of theft by deception and failure to pay taxes, after the New Jersey Attorney General's Office accused him of using that money for his own gain. Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Taylor sentenced Dunlea to five years in prison last week, the AG said.

The 61-year-old Westfield resident was also ordered to pay more than $1.5 million to McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, the firm where he was previously employed, and to pay more than $20,000 to the state as restitution.

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Dunlea admitted to misappropriating $1,538,221 from the law firm by paying himself unauthorized excess compensation totaling $1,182,965, between Jan. 2017 and Dec. 2022.

Officials said he also misled the firm into paying his personal credit card charges for international and domestic flights, hotels, and restaurant outings for himself and his family, totaling around $355,256.

He further confessed to evading income tax due to the state of New Jersey, amounting to $22,658, AG Platkin said.

"(Dunlea) has admitted giving himself a staggering, unauthorized, and illegal seven-figure pay raise, and treating himself and his family, at his employer's expense, to travel, hotels, and dining out, without his employer's consent,” the AG said in an earlier statement.

McElroy Deutsch has offices in Morristown, Newark, and Tinton Falls. Outside the Garden State, the firm has locations in New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities in New York, Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Florida, and Colorado.

Patch's Alexis Tarrazi contributed to this report.