Brockton woman sentenced after cheating her siblings out of thousands in settlement in mother’s death

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

A Brockton woman was sentenced this morning in Suffolk Superior Court to 18 months in jail after she failed to evenly share her late mother’s estate with her three siblings and lied to a probate judge about the whereabouts of tens of thousands of dollars awarded the family in a medical malpractice civil settlement stemming from her mother’s death.

Frederick Leathers, one of Buford’s brothers, pleaded for a light sentence, even though he was one of those cheated. (Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)

Shirley Leathers died in 2006 of cancer, after she was allegedly misdiagnosed several times at a medical center in Dorchester. In a wrongful death settlement, the Leathers family was awarded $1 million, which came out to more than $550,000 after legal fees.

Dell Leathers Buford, the oldest of Shirley Leathers’s children, was appointed as the administratrix of her mother’s estate, with the understanding that she would receive the check and then distribute the money evenly among herself, her two brothers, and her sister. But instead of issuing three checks of about $138,000 to her siblings, she gave them only $60,000 each in December 2008. She also issued a check in the same amount to her father.

Buford and her husband, Kevin E. Buford, who was also sentenced to 18 months in jail, kept the remaining money, investing a substantial chunk of it and spending some for personal use.

One of the brothers, Frederick Leathers, said today after the sentencing, that he confronted his sister in 2008 because he believed she had shortchanged him and their siblings. Leathers said he asked her for a copy of the settlement, but “she kept brushing me off.”

A probate judge removed Buford as administratrix and appointed a special administratrix. Allegations from the case were then forwarded to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, which launched the criminal case.

Buford and her husband were sentenced at the same moment today and tearfully hugged and kissed for about a minute before court officers led them out of the courtroom separately.

The couple will have to pay restitution. That amount was estimated today to be about $64,000 for each sibling, but will likely be adjusted during an upcoming hearing.