Prison Justice
Former lawyer is accused of utilizing faux IDs to seek out well-paid legislation agency jobs
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A former Ohio lawyer was arrested Thursday for allegedly utilizing faux identities to acquire legislation agency jobs in Washington, D.C., and Florida.
Richard Louis Crosby III, 36, of Mason, Ohio, was charged with wire fraud, Social Safety quantity fraud and aggravated identification theft, in line with a press release from the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace for the Southern District of Ohio. Law360, Bloomberg Law and the Cincinnati Enquirer have protection.
Crosby advised employers his title was Richard Williams and he was licensed in New York and Washington, D.C. In actuality, his resignation from the Ohio bar was accepted in September 2021, the identical 12 months he was indicted in Hamilton County in reference to the alleged theft of shopper funds. He pleaded responsible within the theft circumstances in Could 2023 and was sentenced to probation the following month.
However that didn’t cease Crosby from looking for authorized employment exterior of Ohio, prosecutors allege.
Crosby was “briefly employed” by a Washington, D.C., legislation agency in June 2021 after creating the e-mail handle “[email protected],” an affidavit supporting the federal legal grievance alleges. He requested that his paycheck be deposited into an account held by an entity referred to as CM Alliance, the affidavit says.
In October 2022, Crosby was provided a job with beginning pay of $185,000 with a $5,000 signing bonus at a Miami legislation agency. He allegedly used a former romantic companion’s Social Safety quantity, passport quantity and title for the checking account he listed within the onboarding course of. He was fired in April, nevertheless, after the legislation agency acquired an inquiry from a toddler help investigator who made the agency conscious of his actual identification. Crosby earned about $83,000 earlier than his firing, the affidavit mentioned.
Crosby allegedly used the identical alias in July for an interview with a legislation agency in Coral Gables, Florida. In the course of the hiring course of, he allegedly despatched an e mail attachment that was supposedly a screenshot of the title Richard Coleman Williams Jr. within the District of Columbia on-line bar membership listing. There is no such thing as a one by the title of Richard Coleman Williams within the listing, however there’s a Richard Coleman, the affidavit says. Crosby apparently altered the display screen shot so as to add the title “Williams,” in line with the affidavit.
Crosby was provided a wage of $195,000 and a $10,000 signing bonus, however the legislation agency didn’t rent him after figuring out he was utilizing a faux identification, in line with prosecutors.
A quantity listed for Crosby with the Supreme Court docket of Ohio legal professional listing is now not in service. The federal public defender’s workplace has been appointed to symbolize him.
