Ex-Ridgewood attorney faces 6 to 18 years in prison
Peter J. Sampson/The Record Staff Writer
November 18, 2009
North Jersey.com
http://www.northjersey.com/news/111809_Ex-Ridgewood_attorney_faces_6_to_18_years_in_prison.html
A disbarred attorney from Ridgewood is facing a maximum sentence of 6 to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of stealing millions from guardianship accounts he oversaw for incapacitated children and seniors.

Steven T. Rondos and his Brooklyn-based law firm, Raia & Rondos P.C., were indicted in January on charges of grand larceny, money laundering and fraud in connection with the theft of $4 million, prosecutors said.

Rondos pleaded guilty Nov. 4 to all 19 counts in the indictment, admitting he fleeced two dozen clients from 2001 to 2008. His victims included mentally and physically impaired elderly people, as well as children suffering from cerebral palsy caused by medical malpractice at birth, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.

Defense lawyer Franklin A. Rothman said Rondos began tapping into client accounts to advance fees he believed he legitimately earned, then started advancing himself fees based on projected earnings from other cases, and “his numbers just got all fouled up.”

“What he did is incomprehensible, but it’s over a seven-year period and there was some claim that a significant portion of the monies he had actually legitimately earned,” Rothman said.

“Some of the monies that he took were ultimately awarded by the judge, but because they hadn’t been awarded at the time he took them they were wrongfully taken,” Rothman said.

Rondos, who has since been disbarred in New York and New Jersey, had been appointed by judges as a legal guardian responsible for managing cash awards and other client assets.

His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 22 in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The law firm has pleaded not guilty and is going to trial.