Judge Patricia Martin: Theft, Disbarment, Sentencing, Civil Case

Patricia Martin, a former Cook County judge who spent 24 years on the bench and once led the county’s Child Protection Division, was sentenced on December 5, 2025, to four years of probation after pleading guilty to stealing from a 96-year-old Tuskegee Airman she had been trusted to help. The victim, Oscar Lawton Wilkerson Jr., was a relative by marriage. Prosecutors said she drained his accounts of hundreds of thousands of dollars, much of it funneled into cryptocurrency in her own name.

Who Patricia Martin Is

Before the case, Martin’s résumé was long and well-regarded. She worked ten years as an assistant Cook County Public Defender, then served 24 years as a judge, becoming presiding judge of the Child Protection Division of the Cook County Circuit Court around 2000 and holding that role until her retirement in 2020.¹ She chaired the Illinois Supreme Court Judicial Conference Study Committee on Juvenile Justice and served as president of the board of trustees of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.²

The Victim and How She Got Access

Oscar Lawton Wilkerson Jr., born February 9, 1926, trained as a B-25 bomber pilot at Tuskegee, Alabama in 1944 and was among the first Black military pilots in American history. In 2007, he was one of roughly 300 surviving Tuskegee Airmen awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush. He was believed to be the last surviving Tuskegee Airman in the Chicago area when he died on February 8, 2023, one day before his 97th birthday.³

Martin was the niece of Wilkerson’s former wife and was treated as an adopted family member.⁴ In November 2020, as Wilkerson’s health declined and he moved into a senior living residence in Orland Park, his friend Dr. Maceo R. Ellison, who held Wilkerson’s power of attorney, asked Martin to supervise and manage the veteran’s financial affairs.⁵

What She Took

Between December 2020 and late 2022, Martin made at least 11 unauthorized withdrawals from Wilkerson’s bank and retirement accounts. In a single December 2020 transaction, she pulled out more than $115,000, then used $110,000 of it to buy cryptocurrency in her own name.⁶ Smaller withdrawals for cryptocurrency purchases and personal expenses continued through 2021 and most of 2022.⁷ Civil filings put the total drained from Wilkerson’s accounts at more than $380,000.³

Martin lied about the account balances to hide the withdrawals. In April 2022, she told Wilkerson and those managing his affairs that he had roughly $50,000 in checking and $120,000 in a retirement account. Both accounts had already been emptied.⁵ Subpoenaed records showed the funds sent to cryptocurrency exchanges were then moved to unknown locations.

How It Came to Light

The theft surfaced in the summer of 2022 when Wilkerson’s senior living facility reported his account was more than $41,000 in arrears and moved to terminate his residency for non-payment.⁷ Dr. Ellison hired attorney Eric Puryear, who found that Wilkerson’s accounts had been closed with zero balances. Puryear issued a demand to Martin in September 2022 and filed a civil suit on Wilkerson’s behalf.⁸

Disbarment

In June 2023, Martin asked the Illinois Supreme Court to strike her name from the roll of attorneys. In her affidavit she admitted the evidence in the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission complaint would “clearly and convincingly establish the facts and conclusions of misconduct.”⁹ The ARDC found she had intentionally misappropriated more than $240,000 she had agreed to hold for an elderly relative, made false statements about account balances to the person holding Wilkerson’s power of attorney, and failed to produce documents in response to an ARDC subpoena.¹⁰ She was disbarred effective September 22, 2023.

The Criminal Case

On November 9, 2023, a Cook County grand jury indicted Martin on seven felony counts: three counts of theft, two counts of financial exploitation of an elderly person, one count of money laundering, and one count of financial institution fraud. Prosecutors alleged the theft totaled at least $246,203.80.¹¹ A separate charge of running a continuing criminal enterprise was also filed.¹² Because Martin was a former Cook County judge, the case was assigned to McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis to avoid conflicts.⁷

Martin pleaded guilty to a single count of theft with a value between $100,000 and $500,000. The remaining six counts were resolved as part of the plea agreement.

The Sentence

On December 5, 2025, Judge Davis sentenced Martin, then 66, to four years of probation running through December 3, 2029, and ordered her to pay $122,763.73 in restitution, a figure well below what prosecutors said was taken.³ Her probation conditions include regular reporting to Cook County’s Adult Probation Department, drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment with random testing, DNA indexing, a ban on leaving Illinois without court permission, and a prohibition on possessing firearms or other weapons.

Puryear criticized the outcome, telling CBS News Chicago that “probation and a felony conviction for that sort of theft from that sort of a victim just is not quite enough,” and adding, “It’s hard to think of something more evil for her to have done, but she did.”⁴

Where the Civil Case Stands

Martin ignored the civil suit, and on May 24, 2023, Cook County Circuit Judge Anna Demacopoulos entered a default judgment of $1,229,384.31, which included treble damages on $383,236.75 in misappropriated funds along with care costs, attorney fees, and court costs.⁵ On November 19, 2025, the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, reversed that judgment in Wilkerson v. Martin, 2025 IL App (1st) 232053. Because Wilkerson had died on February 8, 2023, and no representative of his estate was substituted as plaintiff before the judgment was entered, the court held the judgment was voidable and remanded the case.¹³ Wilkerson’s family has said it plans to refile with a properly substituted plaintiff.⁴

Martin is disbarred, retired from the judiciary, and serving probation. She continues to draw a government pension.⁴ Separate proceedings for indirect criminal contempt, tied to allegations that she violated court orders barring her from moving Wilkerson’s funds, remain pending.¹⁴

1
KTVZ/CNN. In New Filing, Retired Judge Owns Up to Misconduct in Fleecing of Tuskegee Airman
2
Obama White House Archives. President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts
3
Chicago Sun-Times. Ex-Cook County Judge Sentenced to Probation for Stealing From Tuskegee Airman
4
CBS News Chicago. Retired Judge Patricia Martin Sentenced for Theft From Tuskegee Airman
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Chicago Sun-Times. Tuskegee Airmen Patricia Martin Judge Oscar Wilkerson Cryptocurrency
6
Chicago Tribune. Former Judge Sentenced to Probation
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CWB Chicago. Retired Judge Gets Probation for Stealing Nearly $250,000 From Elderly Tuskegee Airman
8
FindLaw. Wilkerson v. Martin
9
CBS News Chicago. Retired Judge Patricia Martin Disbarred After Fleecing Tuskegee Airman Uncle
10
Illinois State Bar Association. Illinois Supreme Court Disbars 12, Suspends 11 in Latest Disciplinary Actions
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CBS News Chicago. Former Judge Patricia Martin Indicted for Theft From Tuskegee Airman
12
Chicago Sun-Times. Former Cook County Judge Faces Felony Charges for Allegedly Stealing From Tuskegee Airman
13
Illinois State Bar Association. Wilkerson v. Martin
14
FindLaw. Wilkerson v. Martin, 2025 IL App (1st) 232053