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A Lehigh Valley lawyer has pleaded guilty to charges that he allegedly duped clients into investing in fake business opportunities, lining his pockets with $2.7 million.

The change of plea comes just under a month after federal authorities filed a superseding indictment against Todd Lahr, 60, of Nazareth on one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud, and four counts of wire fraud. He was first indicted in August.

The plea hearing Thursday was conducted via video teleconference before U.S. District Judge Edward G. Smith of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Lahr's attorney, Rossman Thompson of the Federal Community Defender Office, did not respond to a request for comment.

According to prosecutors, Lahr's Ponzi scheme involved soliciting his own clients to buy securities in two entities, THL Holdings and Ferran Global Holdings. They say Lahr told the investors that their money would be used for a variety of business ventures, including a mining operation in Papua New Guinea.

But the money instead went to fund Lahr's own expenses, paying his home mortgage, his child's school tuition, utility bills and other personal debt.

"Lahr targeted the very people to whom he owed a duty of loyalty: his own law clients," said Philadelphia-based U.S. Attorney William McSwain. "He stole millions of dollars from innocent victims who trusted him to serve as their lawyer and provide wise counsel. He betrayed them and served his own greedy impulses instead. My office will continue to aggressively pursue securities and other financial frauds, particularly when perpetrated by lawyers and other industry professionals who are supposed to protect the rule of law, not defile it."

In addition to criminal charges, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a parallel civil lawsuit against Lahr seeking disgorgement of the ill-gotten gains with interest, injunctions and other civil penalties against Lahr.

And according to prosecutors, Lahr's bad behavior didn't stop after being charged and sued.

"Even after he was caught, Lahr continued his deception by lying in sworn testimony before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)," a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office read. "In this testimony, Lahr denied writing checks to his personal accounts from the THL Holdings accounts, when, in fact, he had written at least 25 separate checks to himself over a three-year period."

Lahr's sentencing date has been set for August. Lahr could face a maximum sentence of 125 years imprisonment, a three-year period of supervised release, a fine of $11,250,000, mandatory restitution, and forfeiture of $273,091.