1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Prosecutors offer plea deals to some Dewey…

Prosecutors offer plea deals to some Dewey defendants; only one carries potential prison time

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 7, 2015, 11:22 am CST

Manhattan prosecutors on Monday offered plea deals to two former leaders of Dewey & LeBoeuf for their alleged role in misleading investors and bond buyers about the firm’s finances. A third defendant, Dewey’s former client relations manager, also got a plea offer.

The plea deals were revealed “in something of a surprise announcement,” the New York Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. Only one carried the possibility of prison time: Former chief financial officer Joel Sanders was offered a sentence of one to three years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea to a scheme to defraud. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) also has a story on the deals.

Prosecutors also offered plea deals to former executive director Stephen DiCarmine and former client relations manager Zachary Warren. Both would get sentences of community service in exchange for pleas to a scheme to defraud, though Warren’s plea would be to a misdemeanor version of the charge.

The trial of Sanders, DiCarmine and former chairman Steven Davis ended in a mistrial in October after jurors deliberated for 22 days. Warren has not yet faced trial.

Davis is working on a deferred prosecution agreement that wouldn’t require an admission of wrongdoing.

Sanders’ lawyer, Andrew Frisch, said it was unlikely the case would be resolved with the offered plea deal.

Meanwhile, prosecutors revealed more about their plans to retry DiCarmine and Sanders during the hearing on Monday. Assistant District Attorney Peirce Moser said the prosecutors plan to drop all charges of falsifying business records against the defendants.

Updated on Dec. 8 to state that Warren’s plea deal is for a misdemeanor charge.

Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.