FARGO - A former Garrison lawyer plans to plead guilty to defrauding clients out of more than $700,000 he allegedly used for travel, college tuition for his children and other expenses.

Douglas Sletten, 62, is charged in federal court with one count of income tax evasion and one count of mail fraud. Authorities said he took the money between 2003 and 2007.

Sletten, who now lives in Colorado, got caught when "his string ran out," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Peterson said Tuesday.

"Some of the folks that he was representing started asking for their money. He was not able to pay it," Peterson said. "He finally essentially confessed to them he had taken this money and couldn't repay it."

Thomas Dickson, Sletten's attorney, called it a "terrible situation" for everyone involved.

"He's a decent guy and just got in over his head," Dickson said of Sletten. "He made a bad mistake, so here we are."

Sletten is accused of defrauding the heirs of Anita Hopkins, Richard Conklin and Nels Peterson out of more than $674,000, and taking more than $38,000 from clients Sally Mehlhoff, Gladys Vanderwerff and Mabel Brauer.

Authorities said Sletten placed the money in his office trust fund and wrote himself checks from that account.

Sletten faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a $350,000 fine. The government will recommend a sentence of 41 months. A pre-sentence investigation will determine whether Sletten can repay the money. Prosecutors said they knew of no assets.

"It's a sad situation," Peterson said.

"There are 99.9 percent of lawyers who are out there doing good things and coaching their kids' little leagues and soccer games, and this makes the press," Dickson said. "That's just life."