♫ Twisting and turning
Your face to the wall
Your future was soaring
The landing was hard..♫

Lyrics and Music by Tom Mallicoat, recorded by Lethal.

The American Bar Association Journal reported today:

A Texas lawyer accused of double-billing Bexar County for indigent defense work and forging judges’ signatures on payment vouchers has been sentenced to 10 years after pleading guilty in March to forgery and securing execution of a document by deception.

This lawyer was once the most prolific  indigent  defence attorney in the county.  According to My SA, Hilda Valadez was originally indicted:

..[O]n 46 felony counts related to allegations she forged judges’ signatures and double-billed the county for her services.

My SA further reported that the deception charge Hilda plead guilty to is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.  She may be able to apply for probation.

A hard landing indeed.  One can only speculate on what led this lawyer to such behaviour.