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St. Johns County lawyer sentenced for stealing insurance claim settlements

A St. Johns County lawyer accused of stealing thousands in insurance claim settlements from a client has been sentenced to prison.

A judge ordered Christopher Adamec to spend 22 months behind bars, followed by 10 years of probation.

Adamec was arrested in August 2017 on fraud and larceny charges.

The arrest report said he was representing a client in a car crash and sued two insurance companies on her behalf. The document said Progressive settled for $10,000 and Allstate settled for $50,000.

Prosecutors claim Adamec created fake vendor invoices and used settlement funds for his own personal use.

Court documents show he stole $54,325 from the client alone.

Adamec had been practicing law since 2003, according to the Florida Bar website.

The Florida Supreme Court suspended Adamec's law license following his arrest.