INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - The Indiana Supreme Court suspended a Hendricks County judge Tuesday for 45 days without pay for misconduct in a real estate case he presided over.
The justices unanimously found Judge Robert W. Freese acted inappropriately when he appointed a friend, Stephen Scott, as trustee of a trust and related estate even though Scott wasn't qualified and Judge Freese never disclosed his connection with Scott. They said he also failed to act quickly enough to remove Scott as trustee despite "mounting evidence of the friend's mismanagement."
That refers to Scott embezzling about $250,000 from the trust, which had been valued at roughly $2.3 million.
According to information in the Court's ruling, Judge Freese has known Scott since 1990. He lent Scott more than $120,000 in 2005 to buy a house because Scott had bad credit after a bankruptcy. Freese appointed Scott as trustee over the Herbert Hochreiter Living Trust just two weeks after lending him that money, without disclosing their financial arrangement.
In 2013, Judge Freese ruled Scott had to repay the money he stole from the trust plus damages, ordering a total judgment of nearly $580,000 against Scott. He never referred his findings to the local prosecutor or the U.S. Attorney's office.
Scott pleaded guilty in 2017 to federal embezzlement charges, but he still hasn't repaid the money.
The Indiana Supreme Court said Judge Freese has otherwise had a "distinguished" career. They said he also cooperated with their investigation, displayed remorse and didn't financially benefit from the situation himself. Because of that, they suspended Freese for 45 days without pay starting July 8, and charged him $1,460 in court costs. He'll be automatically re-instated August 22.
