A 60-year-old man pleaded no contest today to stealing from his client's work-related civil settlement in 2014, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced.

At Tuesday's court appearance, Mark Haddon of La Verne pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor counts in case KA116294: grand theft of property, identity theft and forgery relating to an item exceeding $950 in value.

Following the plea, Haddon was immediately sentenced to three years of summary probation and ordered to serve four days in county jail. Additionally, the defendant paid the victim the full restitution amount of $12,000.

Deputy District Attorney Brandy Chase, who prosecuted the case, said Haddon, a civil attorney, represented a man in reaching a settlement with his employer in December 2014.

The settlement agreement was for $50,000, however, Haddon told his client it was for $40,000, the prosecutor said. It was later discovered that the defendant had forged his client's signature on the original settlement documents, according to the prosecutor, and then pocketed some of the funds.

The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Bureau of Investigation.

Los Angeles District Attorney / case KA116294/ January 10, 2018