Naperville attorney pleads not guilty to stealing from clients, partners

A Naperville attorney pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his clients and former law partners.

Steven D. Gustafson, 45, entered the perfunctory plea while arraigned on theft, forgery, financial institution fraud and financial crimes enterprise charges.

The allegations surfaced while he was a shareholder in the now-defunct law firm of James, Gustafson & Thompson in Naperville. The firm was dissolved Feb. 21, 2006, and all but one of his former partners have sued Gustafson.

The partners alerted the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which sparked the investigation.

Gustafson is accused of stealing and mishandling money from clients and his partners dating back to 2001 and using the funds to pay his own business and personal expenses.

In one case, Gustafson urged a client's parish priest to use $577,000 of church treasury money to cover an account that the attorney is suspected of depleting for his own use, according to court documents. The priest declined, but he did get a parishioner to donate $77,000 - all of which Gustafson also is being investigated for misusing.

The lawyer, licensed since 1991, is free on bond and due to appear again before DuPage Circuit Judge John Kinsella next month in Wheaton.