All but 1 Theft Charge Against Scot Is Dropped

A trial for Joseph (Mac) Duffy--a self-proclaimed professional golfer who was accused of bilking several women, including his wife, out of about $58,000--was scheduled Tuesday for June 5.

Three of four grand theft charges originally filed against Duffy were dropped after pretrial hearings, said his attorney, Jerry L. Steering.

The remaining charge stems from a complaint made by Sharon Butler, 30, who alleged that Duffy persuaded her to buy him a $14,000 Rolex watch and to give him $24,000 to invest, Steering said.

Steering said Duffy has repaid Butler $17,000 and returned the watch and that he also repaid two other accusers, giving Susan Ambrose, 39, $1,500 and Diane Lampe, 35, up to 40% of $3,037 she gave him.

“He will get a better shot and things will look better if he pays the people back,” Steering said. “Putting him in jail or deporting him isn’t going to get those women paid back.”

Prosecutors allege that Duffy, 28 and a native of Scotland, told the women that he is an international broker and that he could talk women into giving him thousands of dollars without receipts to invest in European stock but never completed the transactions.

Steering said that no promises were made and that prosecutors cannot prove Duffy was not a broker.

Duffy was arrested in November on theft charges stemming from complaints by nine women from around the world, police said. When he was arrested by Newport Beach police, he was wearing a $1,000 coat, a Movado watch and $800 crocodile shoes.

One of the women, Sylvianne Lestringant, 41, a Laguna Niguel resident, said she hired a detective to find Duffy after he persuaded her to trust him with $17,500. She said later that Duffy had appealed to her “maternal” instincts.

She later had a change of heart, and in a bid to avoid having to testify in court against Duffy, Lestringant married him in Las Vegas. A judge ordered her to testify anyway.