Prosecutors
New York man pleads guilty to posing as lawyer, stealing over $290K from more than 100 clients
A New York man who posed as a lawyer has admitted to stealing more than $290,000 from more than 100 clients who came to him for legal services. (Image from Shutterstock)
A New York man who posed as a lawyer has admitted to stealing more than $290,000 from more than 100 clients who came to him for legal services.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced on Monday that Sean Mescall, 46, of Newburgh, New York, who stole the funds between April 2022 and January, pleaded guilty in the New York State Supreme Court to one count of grand larceny in the third degree and one count of scheme to defraud in the first degree. He is expected to serve between two and six years in prison.
“Sean Mescall went to extreme lengths to steal from over 100 New Yorkers, falsely posing as an attorney providing legal assistance, while he was actually exploiting them,” Bragg said in a news release.
According to the Manhattan district attorney’s office in New York, Mescall created a fake law firm that went by several different names, including “Prospection Legal,” “Prospection Legal Group” and “Mescall Law P.C.” He advertised his fraudulent legal services on online legal search platforms and social media. He also provided false information, including that he graduated from “Texas Tech University School of Law.”
In April 2024, Mescall hired an attorney who was licensed in New York and New Jersey to work at his fake firm, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said. She began representing clients in his cases, which included class action, discrimination and business lawsuits.
“Mescall told this attorney that he had graduated from law school, that he was licensed to practice law in New York, New Jersey and other places, and that he had been practicing law since ‘before she was born,’” the district attorney’s office said.
The New York State Supreme Court also ordered a confession of judgment in the amount of $294,275.63 in the case.
Law360 has additional coverage.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
