Glamorous retired Chicago judge is disbarred after scamming $240,000 from her Tuskegee Airman survivor uncle while he was in senior care home

• Patricia Martin, who sat on the bench in Cook County for 24 years, was in charge of handling Oscar Wilkerson Jr’s life savings, her uncle
• His family and the state legal agency claimed she stole $240,000 of his money, which she acknowledge amounted to misconduct
• Martin has now been disbarred following her behavior, which allegedly included her sinking $100,000 into cryptocurrency

A former Chicago judge accused of stealing $240,000 from her veteran uncle has been stripped of her law license. 

The Illinois Supreme Court has disbarred Patricia Martin, who sat on the bench in Cook County for 24 years, effective immediately after admitting to misconduct. 

Martin, who is frequently photographed draped in gold jewelry, had been placed in charge of handling the life savings of her uncle Oscar Wilkerson Jr, her uncle.

His family and the state legal disciplinary agency claimed she stole $240,000 of his money and sunk more than $100,000 into cryptocurrency. 

Martin was ordered to pay her uncle three times as much back, totaling $1.1 million dollars, to his estate after failing to respond to court orders and hearings. 

According to an affidavit obtained by CBS, Martin acknowledged that the ‘evidence would clearly and convincingly establish the facts and conclusions of misconduct.’

The outlet also reported that the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission said: ‘She intentionally used for her own purposes more than $240,000 she had agreed to hold for an elderly relative who was residing in a nursing home.

‘Made false statements to the physician who held her relative’s power of attorney about the balances in his bank and investment accounts, and did not produce documents in response to an ARDC subpoena.’

Despite her admission, Martin has argued that she shouldn’t have to pay the $1.1 million to her uncle’s estate since he has now passed.

Her lawyer wrote: ‘The plaintiff’s death suspend[s] the court’s jurisdiction in this matter.’

Wilkerson was a highly decorated Tuskegee airman and civil rights pioneer who was one of the first black military pilots to fight for the United States in the war before he settled down in Chicago.

He trusted Martin, who is his former wife’s niece, to look after his finances as his health deteriorated but sued her last September and said she took advantage of his old age and hid his retirement money.

The veteran died a day before his 97th birthday on February 8 and  spent his final days at an Orland Park senior living home while Martin was looking after his bank, 401k, and social security accounts.

She was a judge for 24 years and was presiding judge of the Cook County juvenile court’s child protection division when she retired in 2020 a month after she took control of Wilkerson’s finances.

In April 2022, she reported that he had about $50,000 in his checking account and $120,000 in a retirement account, according to the original lawsuit.

But alarm bells were raised in July when Wilkerson was allegedly notified that he owed $41,296.10 to the retirement home he was living in because payments had not been made in recent months.

He found out his accounts had been ’emptied’ and it wasn’t clear where his Social Security and pension payments were being deposited, the court documents state.

Martin did not respond to questions about where the money had gone or requests for information during the litigation, according to the court records.

And in October, Wilkerson’s attorneys said they were voicing their concerns to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, the Illinois attorney general’s office and the Illinois Department of Aging.

They claimed former judge Martin had ‘dissipated funds and may be engaging in risky crypto transactions that threaten the remaining funds that exist’ less than a month later.

Following Wilkerson’s death, Martin was then ordered by Judge Demacopoulos ‘to refrain from transferring or using any further funds’ at a hearing on April 6.

Wilkerson’s lawyers obtained records through a subpoena which showed his money being wire transferred to cryptocurrency exchange accounts that were emptied, a May 11 filing stated.

The latest transactions were between April 6 and April 28 which totaled $2,875.29 and went against the judge’s order.

The veteran’s attorneys then wrote to the judge to ask Martin to demonstrate why she shouldn’t be held in contempt of court and order her to return the money and show where she put it.

They then reported that a total of $383,236.75 had been taken out of his accounts and other people had to come together to pay the money owed to Wilkerson’s retirement home.

And the lawyers asked for Martin to be sanctioned for not answering the questions or providing records of where the money went and asked for a default judgement of $1,229,384.31.

During her career, Martin was appointed by former president Barack Obama to join the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities in 2013. 

Wilkerson joined the Tuskegee Airmen, the first black aviation combat unit, after leaving high school in 1944.

The group suffered significant racial discrimination while serving because of segregation of the military at the time.

‘The military had no intention of using black pilots. The real mission, the underlying mission, was for us to fail and prove their point,’ Wilkerson previously said in an interview.

But their bravery in the war helped pave the way for desegregation. They were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2006.

He frequently toured churches and schools to tell the story of how the Tuskegee Airmen shattered the stereotype that black men couldn’t be combat pilots.

Wilkerson, the last known surviving member of the group in Chicago, used to introduce children to aviation and take them on their first flights for free through the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles Program.

He also worked as a DJ and hosted his own radio show until he retired.