Former Tacoma Attorney Sentenced to 18 Months for Embezzling More Than $530,000 From a Disabled Client

Published Nov. 6, 2026. Case status is current as of that date.

A personal-injury recovery is supposed to last a catastrophically injured client for life. On Nov. 14, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington announced that former Tacoma lawyer Colby Parks, 65, had been sentenced to 18 months in prison for wire fraud after embezzling more than $530,000 from a disabled client's trust [1].

Status: Parks has been convicted and sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones. He pleaded guilty after indictment and later settled a civil suit agreeing to pay restitution. He resigned his Washington law license amid a bar investigation [1].

How the scheme worked, according to court records

According to records summarized by the U.S. Attorney's Office [1]:

1. In 2010, Parks became trustee of a living trust funded with about $1.66 million after the victim suffered permanent injuries in a motorcycle crash.
2. Over the first seven years he siphoned funds until about $20,000 remained. In 2018 he had the victim take a reverse mortgage and continued transferring money for his own use, often matching personal credit-card payments the same day.
3. Over ten years he transferred more than $880,000 and paid himself at least $530,000 more than entitled trustee fees. By the end of 2019 the accounts held $15, and the victim sold her home; Parks diverted some sale proceeds.

The person sentenced

Colby Parks, 65, Tacoma area. Former attorney. Sentenced to 18 months for wire fraud [1].

Case status (as of Nov. 6, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status	Source
Colby Parks, 65	U.S. District Court, W.D. Wash. (Judge Richard A. Jones)	Sentenced Nov. 14, 2025 to 18 months for wire fraud; resigned law license	[1]

Statuses can change, including through appeal.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington, "Former attorney sentenced to prison for stealing over $500,000 from disabled client," Nov. 14, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/former-attorney-sentenced-prison-stealing-over-500000-disabled-client