Matthew Franklin Leathers

I had Mr. Leather's represent me back in 2013 after my first lawyer said I would get a better outcome downtown at the superior court but I would have a different lawyer assigned which was when I got leather's. Every single month that I had him he never remembered my case let alone did any work on it ...to get charged reduced. I am a first time offender and never knew until I pleaded guilty to a crime that I was forced to commit (I passenger an Xbox I was renting from rent a center to pay rent a center) I never knew every month that I went to court if that was going to be the day they would throw me in jail, so with kids I made the decision to plead guilty. Well come to find out when the judge read me my charges I learned that I was being charged for furniture and a TV that rent a center DID come and pick up. I had no idea cuz in Mesa I told the other lawyer that all those things rent a center came and picked up and that I still had the pawn slip to get the Xbox out of pawn that I had no intentions on losing it and used the money i got from the pawn shop to pay rent a center cuz my abusive ex boyfriend forced me to do a temp loan on the gaming system "cuz it was an embarrassment to all his friends that they would take all our stuff back since we had it all for less than 2 weeks. I was in ministry at my church at the time and had gotten away from my ex, I had letters from character witnesses that was requested from leather's that he did absolutely nothing with. The prosecuting attorneys office refused to renegotiate my sentence as he did not present then with any of the facts or rebuttals. I boy only lost my dignity, but I lost my career as I was a CNA/pct/EMT because I am now a felon and lost my homes, cars, career, family everything because of the lack of proper representation. All he would say is "we're going to take it to trial" without explaining why he wasn't trying to go against the prosecuting office. I had no money to hire a different lawyer and if I knew then what I know now I wish I would have cuz now I owe over $7000 that after 5 years of probation that was only supposed to be 2 years and 120 hours of community service plus I have a DESIGNATED felony charge and 1 undesignated felony for "trafficking stolen property" and "theft" whereas I never even had a traffic ticket and have always been law abiding.