Lawyer guilty of stealing £65,000 from AMA

Former chief submits 2.5 million mile expense claim

AN AMERICAN LAWYER has pleaded guilty to stealing $100,000 (£65,000) from the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).

Dal Smilie, 62, from Ohio, fleeced around $100,000 from the AMA - the organisation that controls motorcycle racing in the USA.

Smilie, formerly chief lawyer for the Montana Department of Administration, pocketed the money as a result of  fraudulent expense claims.

Smilie said he'd traveled 2.5 million business miles - or 100 times around the world, when submitting his expenses claim. 

He pleaded guilty to grand theft and receiving stolen property and was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison. The judge suspended the sentence and instead handed Smilie two years of community service and a $1000 (£650) fine.

Smilie paid the AMA back before he was charged.

Smilie's probably not smiling now...