Richard Roberts, left, and Gerald Saluti Jr., right, former law partners in Newark. Courtesy photos

The Newark lawyer made famous for his portrayal in the 2007 film "American Gangster" and his former law partner were sentenced to probation Thursday for stealing client funds.

Richard Roberts, an attorney who formerly operated a Newark law firm, was sentenced to five years of probation for stealing $20,000 from a client, conditioned on performance of 270 hours of community service. The sentence was imposed by Superior Court Judge Donald Collester Jr. in Morris County.

Roberts pleaded guilty on July 23 to perjury and theft by failure to make required disposition of property received. The state had recommended that Roberts be sentenced to up to nearly a year in jail.

Robert's former law partner, Gerald Saluti Jr., 51, was also sentenced Thursday to a four-year term of probation, conditioned on 200 hours of community service. Saluti pleaded guilty on Feb. 21 to a third-degree conspiracy charge, and permanently forfeited his law license and paid $137,652 in restitution.

Roberts, known as "Richie," became widely known when he was depicted by actor Russell Crowe in "American Gangster." The movie tells the story of Roberts, then in law enforcement, heading up an Essex County task force aimed at taking down drug dealer Frank Lucas. Roberts later earned a law degree and was admitted in New Jersey in 1971. He went on to serve as an assistant prosecutor, and, later as a private practitioner, represented Lucas.

A state grand jury charged Roberts and Saluti, formerly of Roberts & Saluti in Newark, with bilking four clients in 2012 and 2013.

An Office of Public Integrity and Accountability investigation revealed that from December 2012 through August 2013, Roberts and Saluti conspired to steal funds from the firm's attorney trust account. In total, just over $140,000 was stolen from four clients. The funds included settlement awards owed to the clients, and money the two men were obligated to hold in escrow or use to make payments on behalf of clients.

"Instead of upholding the law and guarding the interests of their clients, as was their duty as attorneys, Roberts and Saluti stole client funds from their attorney trust account," Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement. "Through this prosecution by our Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, we held these men accountable and made certain that they will never again practice law in New Jersey."

In pleading guilty to perjury, Roberts admitted that he falsely told law enforcement and testified under oath that he never authorized the practice administrator for their firm, Gabriel Iannacone, to make his alimony payments out of the trust account, Grewal's statement said. Roberts admitted that, in fact, he did direct Iannacone to make alimony payments for him, and he knew at the time that Iannacone was making the payments from the firm's attorney trust account.

Iannacone pleaded guilty in 2017 to a third-degree conspiracy charge in connection with the improper withdrawals and payments from the attorney trust account. He is now deceased.

Deputy Attorneys General Samantha McCluskey and Cynthia Vazquez prosecuted Roberts and Saluti.

Saluti's attorney, Lawrence Lustberg of Gibbons in Newark, said his client's sentence was pursuant to a plea agreement.

"But we were very happy to put this entire case behind us in a lot of ways. Even though Gerald has long since stopped practicing law and begun a new life, today is the first day of the rest of his life," Lustberg said.

Saluti, who is now a yoga instructor, made full restitution to his victims and cooperated with the prosecution, Lustberg said.

Roberts was represented by John McMahon of West Orange.