Man is convicted of murdering partner in law firm of convicted Ponzi schemer
A Florida man has been convicted for the murder of a partner in the now-defunct law firm of convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein.
Tony Villegas was convicted on Monday for the 2008 strangulation death of lawyer Melissa Britt Lewis, Local 10, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, 7 News Miami and CBS Miami report. Villegas was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison, according to the Sun Sentinel.
Prosecutors claimed Villegas killed Lewis because he believed she was responsible for the breakup of his marriage to Debra Coffey, who was chief operating officer at the law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler. Lewis and Coffey were best friends.
The evidence against Villegas included his DNA, which was found on the jacket Lewis was wearing when she died, and cellphone location signals linking him to the murder scene.
Coffey was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal money-laundering charge for preparing fake legal settlements for Rothstein to use in the Ponzi scheme. She served less than half of the prison term after cooperating with prosecutors. Lewis was not implicated in any wrongdoing.
Villegas’ lawyer, Bruce Fleischer, told the Sun Sentinel he was not permitted to introduce evidence of the “Rothstein connection” to the case. Perhaps Lewis was killed by someone else, Fleischer said.
“Rothstein was involved in a Ponzi scheme, making tons and tons of money and perhaps there are certain people from the Rothstein firm who found out about this and that was not good for the firm,” Fleischer said.
“Perhaps some people in the firm knew too much,” Fleischer said, “and you can draw your own conclusion.”
Related article:
ABAJournal.com: “Imprisoned Ponzi-Schemer Ex-Lawyer Explodes at Murder Insinuation”
