Disbarred attorney Alfred DiGirolomo pleads not guilty to charges of practicing law, stealing $21G from client

A disbarred attorney from Manhasset has pleaded not guilty to charges that he continued to practice law and stole more than $21,000 from a client — even after he lost his law license when he was convicted of embezzling money from another client, prosecutors said.

Alfred DiGirolomo Jr., 67, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of third-degree grand larceny and practice of law by an attorney who has been disbarred, suspended or convicted of a felony. If convicted, he faces up to 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison.

“Less than two months after pleading guilty to grand larceny charges and losing his license to practice law, this defendant allegedly solicited purported attorney fees from an existing client and defiantly continued to provide representation,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. “The defendant allegedly falsely told his client that he resolved the underlying matter, stole more than $21,000 from him, and ultimately caused him to receive a notice of default on the case for failing to appear at multiple court dates.”

DiGirolomo’s Legal Aid Society of Nassau County defense attorney could not be reached for comment.

Between April 2019 and February 2021, the already disbarred DiGirolomo allegedly worked with a client who had hired him in 2016 to represent him in a civil case, requesting $5,000 in attorney fees and falsely telling his client that he had negotiated an $11,500 settlement that would resolve the civil matter, prosecutors said.

But the client found out there was no settlement when he received a notice of default from the court, prosecutors said.

DiGirolomo was arrested in 2017 and later pleaded guilty to grand larceny charges in connection with the embezzlement scheme. He was sentenced in 2021 to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison and was ordered to pay $680,000 in civil restitution. He was disbarred in April 2019.

DiGirolomo is due back in court Thursday.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.