Conour agrees to dismiss third appeal of wire fraud conviction

Convicted fraudster and former Indianapolis attorney William Conour has agreed to dismiss a third appeal of his 10-year federal prison sentence stemming from a 2012 wire fraud conviction for stealing more than $6 million from his personal-injury and wrongful-death clients.

The 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Conour’s motion to dismiss the appeal on June 18, the same day the motion was filed. A “Consent to Dismiss Appeal” filed with the court and signed by Conour says he concurred with his counsel’s decision to move to dismiss the appeal and agreed to waive his rights “to object or raise any points on direct appeal.” According to court documents, the former attorney – who has proceeded pro se at multiple times throughout his appeals and resentencings – was represented by Michelle L. Jacobs and Vanessa K. Eisenmann of the Wisconsin law firm Biskupic & Jacobs, S.C. at the time of the dismissal.
After Indiana Southern District Court Judge Richard Young imposed the 10-year wire fraud sentence in 2013, Conour began a series of sentencing appeals to the 7^th Circuit. The 10-year sentence and more than $6 million in restitution was reimposed each time on remand, which was most recently ordered in December after the 7^th Circuit determined Conour was not given the opportunity to allocute at his first re-sentencing.

During his second resentencing hearing in March, Conour maintained that he was only liable to one victim, not the roughly three dozen clients who were identified during his trial. He also claimed his one victim was not entitled to money because the settlement negotiations — which yielded $450,000 that Conour stole — were not through.

Conour’s comments prompted Young to threaten to revoke the disgraced attorney’s guilty plea and send the case to a jury trial. In the end, however, the judge reimposed an identical sentence.

Conour initially filed his third notice of appeal in April, and his appellant’s brief had been due on June 21.