Adamec headed to prison

Adamec A former 8th Judicial Circuit prosecuting attorney is headed to prison for nearly two years after his sentencing hearing Wednesday afternoon, January 9, 2018.  Christopher William Adamec was sentenced to 22-months in prison, an additional 10-years of probation, and restitution in excess of $100,000 to be returned to at least three of his private law clients.

In October 2018, 46-year-old Adamec pled guilty to a single count of grand theft of more than $100,000 in order to avoid a trial. Circuit Judge Howard Maltz accepted the plea and presided over the 2-hour sentencing hearing earlier this month.

Court documents and testimony during the sentencing hearing indicated that over a period of four years, Adamec stole money from at least three clients by creating fraudulent bills and checks and deducting those fake expenses from the clients’ insurance settlements in cases he was handling.

• Adamec’s attorney, Mitchell Stone, argued that Adamec was dealing with an increasingly debilitating mental health disorder; exacerbated by an initial medical misdiagnosis.

• “As an attorney, as a former prosecutor, he knew what he was doing and he knew the severity of what he was doing,” Assistant State Attorney, Rebecca Emert, rebutted. 

• Maltz said he was “very sympathetic” to the mitigating factors in the case; however, Maltz also said that Adamec’s behavior as an attorney in a position of trust “undermines confidence in the judicial system and in the bar as a whole”.

Adamec, who resides at 1822 W Cobblestone Lane in Saint Augustine and has been free on $20,000 bond since August 11, 2018, indicated in court that he already has some money in place to satisfy a portion of the special condition that he pays restitution to his former clients, as well as a plan to pay the rest. 

Maltz canceled Adamec’s bond and ordered him returned to custody.  He was booked into the St Johns County Detention Facility where he remains awaiting transfer to the Florida Department of Corrections; Medical and Reception Center in Lake Butler.

The felony conviction will automatically initiate disbarment proceedings by The Florida Bar.  In the interim, Adamec’s status is suspended and his is “not eligible to practice law in Florida”.