A former Brookhaven attorney avoided a criminal trial last weekand must now make restitution for taking property from his adoptedmother’s home in Amite County.

Michael B. Cupit was scheduled for trial Wednesday in Liberty,but lengthy negotiations between the district attorney’s office andCupit’s attorneys resulted in a settlement late that afternoon,court officials said. Cupit must make restitution of an estimated$140,000 and comply with other conditions of a pretrialintervention agreement, Amite County Circuit Clerk Sharon Walshsaid.

“The DA’s office is working that up,” Walsh said of the thesettlement order.

Cupit has six months to comply with the order, Walsh said. If hedoes, his case will be retired to the inactive file.

In 2003, Cupit was indicted on a charge of removal from statepersonal property subject to lien.

The indictment alleged that Cupit removed property from theestate of Mary Lea Reid, who had earlier adopted Cupit as an adultson. However, prior court rulings indicated that he actedfraudulently in his dealings with the woman, who died in 1997.

In a March 2000 ruling, a Chancery Court judge cited undueinfluence and breach of trust issues in voiding Reid’s will leavingCupit her property, including the family’s antebellum home andother belongings.

Reid’s adoption of Cupit was also set aside. He was ordered toreturn assets or pay back the estate the value of any assets gainedduring what was described as an “inappropriate relationship” withthe woman.

In December 2001, the state Supreme Court upheld the AmiteCounty Chancery Court ruling. Cupit’s request for rehearing wasdenied in May 2002.

Cupit subsequently filed bankruptcy in Louisiana, where he nowlives. He had closed his Brookhaven law office before the June 2003indictment was returned.