A previous personalized-harm law firm who stole hundreds of thousands of bucks from clients’ settlements in advance of fleeing to Costa Rica was sentenced Thursday in federal courtroom in Los Angeles to 12 several years in jail.
Philip James Layfield, 48, aka Philip Samuel Pesin, was identified responsible in August on 23 fees, which include 19 counts of felony wire fraud, a single depend of mail fraud, just one depend of tax evasion and other charges, according to the U.S. attorney’s business in Los Angeles. Just after the verdict, he was remanded to federal custody.
Layfield previously owned and operated quite a few regulation firms in California, together with places of work in Irvine, Los Angeles and El Segundo, together with Park Metropolis, Utah, and Scottsdale, Ariz.
In 2016, Layfield represented a consumer who was remaining severely hurt after being strike by a auto in Orange County, in accordance to the U.S. attorney’s business. Layfield negotiated a $3.9-million settlement for his client but stole somewhere around $2 million for his possess individual use and to spend other shoppers whose settlement money he had misappropriated, according to charging files.
The customer in the Orange County scenario been given only $25,000, in accordance to federal prosecutors.
In 2016, Layfield unsuccessful to file a federal money tax return, in spite of obtaining $3 million, which bundled settlement money he experienced embezzled from purchasers, authorities stated. He was also dependable for his legislation organization not shelling out roughly $121,000 in payroll taxes for the 2nd quarter of 2017.
Following he stole hundreds of thousands from his clients’ settlement cash, Layfield moved to Coto de Caza in Costa Rica. Ahead of he fled, he used for a $700,000 loan from a business enterprise loan provider with misleading information and facts, according to federal prosecutors who in-depth Layfield’s crimes through a 13-working day demo last yr.
Layfield made use of the bulk of the income from the personal loan for particular expenses, together with purchasing a horse and then delivery other horses to Costa Rica, authorities claimed. He was arrested in New Jersey in 2018 immediately after he returned to the United States and was disbarred in California afterwards that year.