Fairfax Attorney Sentenced for Embezzling Nearly $484K from Elderly Client

A Fairfax County attorney was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison for embezzling nearly $484,000 from a 90-year-old client and her estate.

James G. Kincheloe Jr., 67, was convicted of a single count of embezzlement in Fairfax County Circuit Court in July when he entered an Alford plea, indicating he did not admit guilt but acknowledges he could be convicted based on the evidence presented.

Kincheloe will have to repay more than $483,000 to the estate of Pearl Buckley, a Fairfax County resident who died in 2009 at the age of 90, The Washington Post reports. Buckley’s family filed a separate civil suit claiming nearly $900,000 was taken from her estate.

Prosecutors said Kincheloe charged Buckley more than $9,700 a month - three times Buckley’s income - to manage her affairs. Kincheloe served as the executor of Buckley’s will and had power of attorney over her. At the time of her death, Buckley was reportedly suffering from dementia and was legally blind.