Lexington Attorney Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Embezzling More Than $3.5 Million

BOSTON – A Lexington, Mass. attorney was sentenced on Oct. 8, 2025 in federal court in Boston for defrauding multiple Massachusetts victims, including two relatives.

David Smerling, 75, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to nine years in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution of $3,534,316 and forfeiture.  In June 2025, Smerling pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Smerling was sentenced in connection with three separate schemes. Between January 2016 and May 2020, Smerling worked as a bookkeeper for three Massachusetts companies and embezzled more than $2.8 million from the companies and their owners. He did so by transferring funds first to a bank account owned by one of the victims that Smerling controlled before moving the money to bank accounts in his own name, or directly from the companies’ accounts to bank accounts in his own name. Smerling concealed his scheme by changing the mailing address on victims’ bank statements to his home address and refusing to share the online banking password for the victims’ accounts. In April 2020, a victim discovered Smerling had transferred $350,000 from one of the companies to himself without authorization. After these funds were returned, Smerling changed the banking passwords and again transferred $350,000 from the company to himself.  

Between May 2020 and August 2021, Smerling embezzled more than $475,000 from a trust established for the benefit of a relative with special needs for which Smerling served as the trustee. Smerling transferred trust funds to bank accounts he controlled before sending the funds to bank accounts in his wife’s name or using the funds to pay for personal expenses. He concealed his scheme by making lulling payments to the beneficiary so he would not discover the trust had been depleted.  

Between May 2023 and April 2025, Smerling embezzled more than $175,000 from a relative with dementia for whom Smerling served as the financial power of attorney, including while he was on pretrial release after his January 2025 arrest in this matter. Smerling transferred funds from the victim’s accounts to accounts he controlled, used a credit card in the victim’s name for personal purchases and took out a loan in the victim’s name. To conceal this scheme, Smerling misrepresented the purpose of the transfers to the financial institutions in which the victim’s accounts were held.  

U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Kearney of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.