A former attorney who said he never meant to steal from the guardianship accounts of the mentally disabled and elderly individuals he was entrusted to protect was sentenced yesterday to from five to 15 years in prison. During a three-hour hearing, a tearful Steven A. Rondos said he was “not some kind of monster…but a decent human being who made some serious mistakes.” Mr. Rondos, 45, pleaded guilty last year to a 19-count indictment charging him with money laundering and stealing more than $4.1 million from 24 accounts he oversaw. Prosecutors say he used the funds to pay for lavish purchases, including a $31,000 plasma TV set and a $59 baseball cap. “From the days I competed in mock trials in high school, I never dreamed I would be addressing the court as a criminal defendant,” he told Acting Supreme Court Justice Ronald A. Zwiebel (See Profile) in Manhattan.
Mr. Rondos, who has been disbarred, said that a case of undiagnosed depression, coupled with anxiety, and post-traumatic stress syndrome in the wake of 9/11 were “part of the reason I did what I did.” He expressed the “deepest remorse and sorrow” to his wards and their families and said he had “forever deprived” his three children of their innocence.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
