Attorney Misconduct, Crime

Disbarred Harvard Law Grad Pleads Guilty To Kidnapping To Avoid Life Behind Bars

How much prison time is he facing?

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Matthew Muller

Matthew Muller

Last year, in a case that drew headlines nationwide, California couple Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn claimed that they were the victims of a home invasion. Quinn reported that he was drugged and bound by an intruder while Huskins was abducted against her will. Huskins vanished for two days. A $17,000 ransom was demanded, but just before it was due, Huskins miraculously reappeared, leading police to declare the entire affair an elaborate hoax.

Months later, Matthew Muller — a Harvard Law graduate with bipolar disorder who had been suspended from practicing law and later disbarred — was arrested at his vacation home in connection with a second home invasion. During a search, police uncovered evidence linking him to the Huskins case. He was charged, and after months of denying his guilt, he changed his tune to avoid a longer jail sentence via plea deal. The Associated Press has more:

Muller pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Sacramento, acknowledging he used computer-generated voices, blackened swim goggles, liquid sleeping medication and numerous props in the abduction of Denise Huskins last year from the Vallejo home she shared with boyfriend Aaron Quinn.

Under the plea deal, federal prosecutors agreed to seek no more than 40 years in prison, but Muller’s attorney, Thomas Johnson, said he fears U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley will impose a life term when Muller is sentenced on Jan. 19.

Following his client’s guilty plea, Johnson said: “We’re trying to find a way to get Mr. Muller to be rehabilitated and allow him to return and lead a productive life. I think that Mr. Muller has tremendous potential. There was another side of Mr. Muller that was the side that allowed him to commit these crimes.”

Douglas Rappaport, an attorney representing Huskins and Quinn, isn’t satisfied with Johnson’s assertions, and has called upon Judge Nunley to sentence Muller to life in prison. “This is not a man whose fancy law degree or background should give him a pass,” he said at a news conference. “He is also a psychopath,” noted Quinn’s mother.

Muller must pay a $250,000 fine and faces the possibility of life in prison, although under the terms of his plea deal, the government will seek a sentence of no more than 40 years. If and when Muller is eventually released from prison, he will remain under the most intense supervision and surveillance that is available at the time.

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Disbarred lawyer pleads guilty in kidnap once called a hoax [Associated Press]
Vallejo: Bizarre 2015 kidnapping results in guilty plea [East Bay Times]

Earlier: Harvard Law Graduate Arrested In Strange Kidnapping Scheme

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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