Law Firm Embezzler Ordered To Jail
Posted on Monday, 12 of May , 2008 at 8:01 pm
GARDEN CITY—The brother of a Garden City divorce attorney who worked as a bookkeeper and office manager for his brother’s law firm was ordered to jail Friday and his sentencing delayed until June 6. Anthony Galasso, 54, of West Babylon has pleaded guilty to 22 charges including two counts of grand larceny for stealing more than $4 million from his brother’s firm.
Nassau County Court Judge George R. Peck ordered Galasso jailed after receiving a report on his medical condition.
The judge said that attorneys who are representing aggrieved parties in the matter can file papers with the court detailing their losses and that the victimized law firm, Galasso, Langione & Botter, could seek additional civil penalties.
Galasso’s attorney, Thomas F. Liotti, objected to the delay in sentencing and called Peck’s rulings “after-the-fact ruling”. He says that the plea bargain deal made by his client limited restitution to $2 million.
Galasso had been indicted in November. According to the Nassau County district attorney’s office, the embezzlement from the law firm occurred over a more than two-year span that began in June 2004 and ended in January of 2007 upon Galasso’s arrest.
During that time period, Galasso used his position as the firm’s financial record keeper to siphon money from an escrow account set up for one of its clients.
He embezzled funds from at least 10 clients of the firm, prosecutors said. Police say he falsified bank records and transferred the money into his own personal accounts, in essence stealing from his younger brother, attorney Peter Galasso. He had been employed at his brother’s firm for 15 years.
In return for his guilty plea, Galasso has been promised a term of 2 ½ to 7 years in state prison when he’s sentenced.
Galasso admitted spending the money on private jets to Atlantic City and other casinos, on payments for a 2007 Mercedes Benz E350, and on a $16,000 stay for his family at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York City. He also purchased more $200,000 worth of concert and sporting event tickets. 5-12-08
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