Former Hewlett Attorney Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $400K from Six Clients

Levine will serve 3 to 9 years in prison, pay full restitution

MINEOLA – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that Joseph Levine, a now-disbarred attorney charged with stealing more than $400,000 from six of his clients, including a former homeless woman, has pleaded guilty to the top charge against him in exchange for a promised prison sentence of three to nine years.

Levine, 60, of Hewlett, pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree before Judge John L. Kase. He will be sentenced August 29 and must pay a client protection fund $418,500. The fund will then reimburse the victims.

Rice said that in December of 2006, Levine counseled a Rockville Centre woman to settle a personal injury lawsuit that awarded his client $300,000.On December 27, 2006, Levine traveled to the Pennsylvania office of the insurance carrier to pressure the insurance company into cutting the check immediately because his client’s daughter was having heart surgery and the woman needed the money.The insurance adjuster issued the $300,000 check to the defendant.Levine then forged the signatures of his client and her husband and deposited the check at the Woodmere branch of his Signature bank account.

Rice said that in May of 2007, an Elmont woman was in the process of buying a home when her real estate agent recommended several attorneys that would be able to draw up the contract of sale.The woman selected Joseph Levine and eventually gave the defendant a $10,000.00 down payment on a home.The sale fell through in June 2007 and the woman requested the return of the money. Levine suggested that he should hold on to the funds in the hopes that he could resurrect the real estate deal. The victim never received her money back despite repeated calls.

Rice said that Levine also stole:

• $25,000 personal injury settlement check due to a homeless woman now living in the Bronx
• $91,000 in a real estate scam from a Howard Beach man
• $30,000 in real estate proceeds from the sale of a home from an Oceanside couple
• $12,500 in due to a Woodside car crash victim

“Lawyers are hired into positions of trust, often during a difficult time of someone’s life,” said Rice.“The betrayal of that trust is something my administration takes very seriously, and we were ready to take this case to trial when Mr. Levine held himself accountable for his actions.”

The Lawyer’s Fund for Client Protection has reimbursed the Rockville Centre victim $250,000 since the theft.Levine has been ordered to pay full restitution to the fund for the reimbursement of the remaining clients.

The fund was established in 1982 and serves a reimbursement mechanism for client funds that are lost due to the “dishonest conduct” of lawyers licensed in New York State. The fund is financed by the 226,000 members of the legal profession in New York State through a registration fee required by law.

Levine was disbarred on June 26, 2007.

Assistant District Attorney Vickie Curran, of the DA’s Government & Consumer Frauds Bureau, is handling the case for the District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Levine is being represented by Michael Soshnick, Esq.