Update: Ex-lawyer gets 50 years for $1.2B Ponzi scheme

Published June 9, 2010 at 7:10 p.m.

Associated Press / Shirley Henderson
An artist's rendering shows Scott Rothstein, right; his lawyer, Marc Nurik, center; Assistant U.S. District Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio, left; and U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn, top, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Wednesday.

By CURT ANDERSON
AP Legal Affairs Writer

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Disbarred lawyer Scott Rothstein, whose seemingly unlimited wealth bought palatial homes, exotic cars and mega-yachts, was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in prison for operating a $1.2-billion Ponzi scheme using faked legal settlements.

The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn was below the 100-year maximum Rothstein faced for five felony convictions, including racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud.

Rothstein, who turns 48 on Thursday, had hoped for a 30-year sentence because of his extensive cooperation with investigators -- and prosecutors could later ask for up to one-third off his sentence because of continued assistance.

Cohn agreed that Rothstein deserved credit for cooperation but was particularly troubled that the former lawyer would use the judicial system for his scam, to the point of forging signatures of at least three federal judges on fake documents.

"These actions constitute the most egregious wrongs a licensed attorney can commit," Cohn said, adding that Rothstein's "opulent lifestyle" was designed to advance the scheme by projecting an illusion of success.

"It was all about image, wealth, power and influence," the judge said.

The prison sentence, 10 years more than prosecutors recommended, caps a swift downfall for Rothstein, whose now-defunct law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler was once considered a rising force in South Florida legal circles.

His taste in fancy Italian sports cars, an 87-foot custom yacht, glittering watches and big cigars made him seem to be a larger-than-life character and a darling of politicians, celebrities and sports stars. Authorities seized two dozen homes and other real estate once owned byRothstein, including his two, side-by-side houses in Narragansett on Bluff Hill Cove Farm Road.

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