JOLIET – A Mokena-based lawyer who helped himself to funds in trusts he set up for elderly clients was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison.

John W. Pleta, 56, made a blind plea earlier this month to theft charges. Judge Dave Carlson said it was “sad” to see how the attorney had abused his clients’ trust.

Pleta of Tinley Park was arrested in December 2015 after the family of an elderly client discovered he’d helped himself to more than $1 million from a trust fund. Mokena police were notified and found three other victims who also had missing funds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

At the time of his arrest, Pleta had been a lawyer for 30 years and specialized in estate planning and wills.