Rock Hill lawyer stole $166K in mortgage money from clients, pleads guilty
A Rock Hill lawyer will spend the next five years in prison after stealing more than $166,000 in clients’ mortgage money.
Thomas Givens, 67, pleaded guilty Thursday in York County criminal court to felony breach of trust. He kept much of the money given to him for a house closing by both the buyer and seller, court testimony showed.
Givens’ 2019 theft came after 35 years of home closings in York County in a legal real estate practice. It was estimated he did more than 15,000 real estate transactions, testimony showed.
The people he stole from in 2019 had previously used Givens for closings and were considered friends and clients, testimony showed.
Clifford Sands, 69, said in court that he and his wife paid more than $160,000 to Givens for a home, but Givens never paid the outstanding mortgage on the house. The home remains in limbo with a mortgage company even after Givens was arrested by Rock Hill police in September 2019, testimony showed.
The home the Sands live in could still be foreclosed upon, testimony showed.
Sands said in court he and his wife may have to move in with their grown children after years of working and saving for the house.
“I’m 69 years old,” Sands said. “We thought we had it made.... We are about to be homeless.”
The sellers of the home whom Givens stole from told the court they trusted Givens after previous transactions.
“Our own personal attorney stole our money,” victim Art Werner said in court.
The charge of breach of trust carries up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors Matthew Hogge and Kevin Brackett told visiting Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes that Givens betrayed the public trust.
“Mr. Givens sat at the real estate closing table as a lawyer, but the fact was he sat there as a thief,” Hogge said in court. “He was stealing this money from people who were hurt terribly.”
In South Carolina, every real estate closing must include a lawyer, testimony showed.
Brackett, York County’s top prosecutor, asked for the maximum punishment for Givens.
“The public must know that the justice system will protect people,” Brackett said. “The public must know we will seek justice for victims. Mr. Givens ripped these people off.”
Givens’ license to practice law was suspended after his arrest by S.C. Court Administration. In court, Givens apologized to the victims and to the profession he worked in for decades. Givens asked if he could avoid prison and pay the victims back through restitution from a job at a construction company, which he took after he was banned from practicing law.
Givens turned to the victims seated in court and said: “I hope they can forgive me for what I have done.”
Givens said he had trouble after the 2008 recession and went through a divorce after that, but offered the court no specific reason for stealing the money.
Givens’ lawyers, Leland Greeley and Harry Dest, said Givens had a lifetime of solid legal and community service in Rock Hill. The lawyers said what Givens did to the victims was “horrible,” but asked that Givens receive probation so he could pay back the money.
“Thomas Givens life is replete with good works,” Dest said. “He has brought shame and condemnation on himself and the legal profession...But mercy is the just answer here.”
Dozens of Givens’ friends and past legal colleagues collected more than $40,000 to pay the victims, testimony showed. Another $35,000 is being collected, testimony showed. Several friends and former legal colleagues asked the judge to show mercy to Givens and allow the money to be paid back to the victims.
Hayes decided on a sentence of five years in prison followed by five years probation. The victims also must be paid restitution, Hayes ruled.
After court, Werner said even though Givens was sent to prison, he and the other victims still feel the hurt.
“He’s going to jail, but we are still out our money,” Werner said.
