Former High-Flying PI Lawyer Sentenced to 15 Years

Legal Ethics

Former High-Flying PI Lawyer Sentenced to 15 Years

Posted Dec 7, 2007, 06:51 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A once-prominent Miami lawyer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for bilking elderly asbestos clients out of more than $13 million.

The sentence for Louis Robles was the longest possible under federal sentencing guidelines, the Daily Business Review reports. U.S. District Judge Alan Gold also ordered Robles to pay $13.5 million in restitution.

“What makes this crime so egregious is he stole money from the ill and infirm without conscious or concern,'' Gold said.

Robles looked "trim and younger than his years,” the Miami Herald reports. The former lawyer laughed with his public defender and smiled at family members before the hearing began.

Prosecutors had originally recommended a 10-year sentence under a plea deal with Robles, but the judge refused to accept it. Robles pleaded guilty in September.

Prosecutors had claimed Robles operated what amounted to a Ponzi scheme by delaying payments due to asbestos clients until more money came in from new clients. He used the money to finance a lavish lifestyle that included a $13 million mansion on Biscayne Bay and apartments in Los Angeles, New York and Colorado.

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