By John Burton
TRENTON — A former partner with a Freehold law firm and Monmouth County resident was sentenced yesterday in federal court to nearly three years in prison for defrauding the firm and clients by using hundreds of thousands of dollars of their money for his personal use, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Timothy Provost, 58, Millstone, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for misappropriating more than $885,000, and using the funds for his and his family’s personal use, such as paying children’s tuition, mortgage and horse stable expenses.
Provost had previously pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, and admitted to using the attorney trust and business accounts with his firm (not named in court documents) and to attempting to hide the theft by using the money to buy and mail cashier’s checks payable to his creditors and to himself.
Along with the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Shipp ordered Provost to pay $887,134 in restitution and sentenced him to three years of supervised release.
