SALT LAKE CITY — The family of a vulnerable woman suffering from Alzheimer's is speaking candidly about the attorney who embezzled millions of dollars from her estate.
“It’s disgusting. It’s despicable what this man has done,” said Sherry McConkey, daughter-in-law of Glenn McConkey.
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Glenn McConkey, 79, is the mother of famous extreme skier Shane McConkey, who died in 2009.
“[Shane] would be so upset. He watched his mother make this legacy for herself. He’s watched her work her ass off her whole life to get what she did,” Sherry said.
Amid failing health, Glenn hired Calvin Curtis to handle her estate. Over the next 13 years, Sherry believes the attorney stole an estimated $13 million, disinherited Glenn’s 16-year-old granddaughter and named himself as trustee.
"She was put in a home and everything started changing. We were pushed out. We weren’t told much about anything. We weren’t the trustee or weren’t involved in the will,” said Sherry.
The McConkeys are among 23 known victims, most of whom are considered extremely vulnerable.
Prosecutors say Curtis used the money to support his lavish lifestyle.
“There are sympathetic victims that didn’t deserve to have any money taken from them,” said Curtis’ attorney Greg Skordas.
Skordas says they are working on getting the stolen money back by the time of sentencing. However, he only expects a small fraction will be given back to the victims.
“The losses here are astronomical. We are talking about over $10 million. The amount of money that we think we can raise between now and the sentencing is significantly less than that. We are never going to get to that number,” Skordas said.
For now, Glenn doesn’t have enough to continue living the rest of her life in her assisted living facility.
“Pay back everybody. Pay back all these people that had been affected all of their money. Apologize for causing them stress,” said Sherry.
In a plea agreement, attorneys recommend Curtis spend a little over six years in prison. It will be up to a judge to sign off on that next spring.
