From Chelsea Phua;
Aaron Swickard, 43, was well spoken, impeccably dressed and exuded success, according to a woman prosecutors say was swindled by him.
"He has a beautiful house, a beautiful car, he's a lawyer," said Kathleen Farrar, 65, who spent more than 30 years teaching in the Antioch School District before retiring.
Last month, Swickard pleaded no contest in Sacramento Superior Court to felony counts of grand theft by embezzlement and fraud, according to authorities. The former Sacramento attorney also pleaded no contest to state income tax evasion.
He is scheduled for sentencing May 18 and faces a maximum of 5 years and 8 months in prison.
Prosecutors said Swickard stole more than $850,000 from Farrar and another client. He also failed to report more than $200,000 in income earned in 2005 and 2006, and owes the state $75,000 in unpaid taxes, according to California Franchise Tax Board officials.
Farrar said she met Swickard in 2006 when she was planning an addition to her home on Bentley Street in Concord. A friend recommended contractor Alifeleti Vaituulala, who ran the business with Swickard.
Swickard told Farrar he was an attorney who had "special skill, knowledge and expertise in real estate transactions and construction projects," according to court documents.
Farrar said she interviewed six companies, and chose Swickard's.
"When they came into my home, it was like good friends," Farrar said. "All the time we laughed and joked when we were looking over the plans."
Swickard took her to look for appliances and remodeling materials and helped her pick out a mantel, she said.
She said she signed a contract for an $80,000 construction project, and wrote Swickard a check for that amount that he said he planned to put in an escrow account.
The company completed only one day of actual work, prosecutors said.
In the meantime, Swickard persuaded Farrar to join him and Vaituulala in buying and selling real estate, and to use a rental property that she owned free of debt to secure loans for their investments, she said.
In July 2006, Farrar signed documents allowing Swickard to take out a $430,000 loan secured by her rental property. He used the money to buy property in Sacramento and transferred it to a company created for his and Vaituulala's benefit, prosecutors said.
Farrar eventually filed a civil lawsuit and won a judgment against Swickard for $736,000 to cover losses associated with the never-completed construction project and investment loans. She said she has yet to receive that money. And instead of one mortgage, she now has two.
On a fixed income, Farrar said she fears she may lose both her home and the rental property to foreclosure.
Court records indicate Swickard earlier served time behind bars. He was convicted of bank robbery in Utah in 1983 when he was 18. He served four months and was given 4 years probation. In 1986, the California Highway Patrol arrested him for driving under the influence at speeds of 100 mph.
In 1991, he disclosed his criminal history when applying to the Lorenzo Patino School of Law. He graduated the program and in December 2000 was admitted to the California State Bar. He resigned from the bar last spring.
Court documents outline another case against him involving client Terry McSweeney. Documents say Swickard persuaded McSweeney to invest in a business venture in 2004. McSweeney never received any shares, returns or dividends, prosecutors said.
McSweeney later sued Swickard and won a civil judgment of $577,000.
For Farrar, the losses go beyond the economic.
"Once I found out I was in trouble, all I did was cry," she said.
