Lawyer Who Took $4M From Clients Up for Early Release
Ralph E. Mirarchi, a Pennsylvania lawyer who pled guilty to stealing more than $4 million from clients, is up for early prison release as a non-violent offender.
Mirarchi was arrested in 2007. At the time of the plea deal, there was no property in Mirarchi’s name. His wife of 40 years, Dorothy Mirarchi, had significant property in her name, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, but there was no evidence linking her to her husband’s alleged crimes.
In 2009, Dorothy Mirarchi appeared to agree to a court deal where she would repay something to her husband’s clients, in exchange for lowering his sentence. The agreement would have allowed her to keep $600,000. Dorothy Mirarchi sold a house worth $500,000, but instead of giving clients the money she paid off her Lexus and relocated to another house she owns, worth $1.75 million.
If Ralph Mirarchi, 71, is accepted into the early release program, he would be transferred to a community corrections center, and be eligible for release in 2012. Originally, his sentence was serving 61 to 122 months in prison.
Paul Pezzotti Sr., one of Mirarchi’s clients, lost $900,000. In January Pezzotti got his first restitution check from Mirarchi, for $16.06.
“If this inmate is released, it will send a strong message to all who would consider similar conduct. Millions of dollars of wealth can be theirs in return for a very short term in prison,” Pezzotti, 79, wrote in a letter to prison officials, opposing Mirarchi’s early release.
