Brendan Lawler and Lisa Lawler, the former owners of Fairhaven-based BL Insurance Brokerage LLC, have each been sentenced to eight months in federal prison after pleading guilty to participating in a scheme that diverted client insurance premium payments rather than remitting them to insurers.
U.S. District Judge Myong J. Joun sentenced the couple on July 23 to eight months’ imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. The court also imposed a $100 special assessment on each defendant, entered forfeiture money judgments of $462,247.89 against each defendant, and scheduled a restitution hearing for Oct. 29, 2026, to determine the amount of restitution owed to victims. The Court ordered Brendan Lawler to self-surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Sept. 25, 2026. The Court allowed Lisa Lawler to surrender herself, considering family care issues, on or before June 25, 2027, after Brendan Lawler completes his sentence.
Although the court imposed identical eight-month prison terms, the government had recommended sentences of 31 months for Brendan Lawler and 36 months for Lisa Lawler.
Government Alleged Premium Payments Were Diverted Instead of Remitted
According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, the conspiracy operated from approximately March 2023 through March 2024 while Brendan and Lisa Lawler owned and operated BL Insurance Brokerage.
Federal prosecutors alleged that the defendants collected insurance premium payments from clients that the couple should have forwarded to insurance companies, less the agency’s commissions. Instead, prosecutors alleged that the Lawlers converted many of those payments for their personal use, including loan payments, utility bills, and personal credit card balances. To conceal the missing premium payments and keep the agency operating, prosecutors alleged the defendants used incoming premium payments from newer clients to satisfy outstanding obligations owed on behalf of earlier clients.
The government further alleged that the defendants created and distributed insurance documents falsely indicating that clients had insurance coverage and, when customers questioned missing coverage or cancellation notices, they falsely represented that the agency had made the premium payments or that the payments were in transit.
According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, the conspiracy caused approximately $654,579 in losses to insurance providers, premium finance companies and insureds. Prosecutors further alleged that fraudulent hard-money loans, fraudulently obtained, increased the total loss attributable to the conspiracy to approximately $962,066, the figure ultimately reflected in the government’s sentencing recommendation and summarized in the U.S. Attorney’s sentencing announcement.
Victims Described Professional and Financial Consequences
Several victim impact statements submitted before sentencing described the disruption experienced by attorneys and law firms that relied on BL Insurance to procure professional liability coverage.
One attorney wrote that discovering his malpractice insurance had not actually been renewed caused “immense stress, anxiety, and sleepless nights” while he attempted to determine whether his law practice remained properly insured. He described malpractice insurance as “the fundamental shield that protects our livelihood, our clients, and our careers.”
The founding partner of a small Essex County law firm submitted an affidavit describing the law firm discovering more than $20,000 in unauthorized checks drawn on the firm’s operating account after the firm made a premium payment by check to the defendants intended for the firm’s professional liability insurer. As stated in the affidavit, the firm was forced to close bank accounts, notify clients and vendors, and devote substantial time to addressing the resulting financial and operational disruption from the fraudulent checks drawn on its account.
Sentencing Concludes Criminal Case; Restitution Still Pending
The Lawlers pleaded guilty in March 2026 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after being charged by criminal complaint in August 2025. At sentencing, Judge Joun adopted the Presentence Investigation Reports without change, imposed identical prison sentences on both defendants, entered forfeiture money judgments, and deferred restitution until a separate hearing scheduled for Oct. 29, 2026.
The court ordered Brendan Lawler to serve his sentence first, followed by Lisa Lawler, allowing one defendant to remain with the couple’s children while the other served their prison term.
Prosecution Team
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, announced the sentences. The investigation received assistance from the Massachusetts Division of Insurance and the Insurance Fraud Bureau. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan C. Cleary of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.
