Queens Defenders co-founder, husband sentenced for stealing thousands from nonprofit

A Garden City woman, who co-founded a nonprofit to represent low-income New Yorkers in court proceedings, and her husband have been sentenced to federal prison for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organization.

Lori Zeno, 65, the co-founder of Jamaica-based Queens Defenders, and Rashad Ruhani, 56, now of Corona, were sentenced Tuesday for their roles in the theft of more than $400,000 from the nonprofit, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. and other officials announced in a news release.

Zeno and Ruhani, who married in 2024, were indicted in June 2025, Newsday previously reported. Zeno pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy in February while Ruhani pleaded guilty to the same charge in May, according to court documents. She faces up to 3 years and 7 months in prison. A judge also sentenced Ruhani to up to 4 years and 9 months.

The pair spent $10,000 on a Bali getaway, $4,000 on a Louis Vuitton handbag, $1,700 at a luxury resort in California and $39,000 for rent and utilities for a privately used penthouse apartment, which they outfitted with a $3,300 85-inch smart television, according to the release. All this activity occurred between June 2024 and January 2025.

"Instead of upholding the law and serving those in need, the defendants greedily served themselves by spending those funds on luxury goods, lavish travel, and other personal indulgences," Nocella said in a statement.

Zeno also hired family and associates of Ruhani "who did little or no substantive work," the release said.

Zeno helped found Queens Defenders in 1996 and served as executive director from 2018 to January 2025, Newsday previously reported. The organization’s board of directors suspended and ultimately terminated Zeno and Ruhani, as well as his associates, Queens Defenders said in a victim impact statement submitted to the court ahead of Tuesday’s sentencing.

"Lori Zeno did not just steal funds; she weaponized her position of trust to destroy an embedded and impactful provider within the Queens justice system," the organization said in the statement. "While our clients were facing the most terrifying moments of their lives — facing criminal charges and fighting for their freedom — the defendant was using the funds meant for their defense to finance a life of obscene luxury."

The "total betrayal" by the couple left Queens Defenders, which previously had represented about 16,000 clients annually, grappling with "severely strained relationships with [New York] City funders, extra hurdles in recruiting high-quality staff, and a continued exodus of remaining employees," the statement said. The "scandal" forced the organization "to shrink from a massive multi-service provider to an entity focused solely on providing eviction defense for 1,500 people annually in Queens Housing Court — our final remaining contract with the City of New York," the nonprofit added. The group said it lost $35 million worth of contracts to represent New Yorkers in need. 

Neither Queens Defenders nor an attorney representing Zeno immediately responded to Newsday's requests for comment Wednesday.

In a statement Zeno read Tuesday before District Court Judge Rachel P. Kovneron, she described how her actions unraveled her life.

"The man who swore before God that he loved me actually didn’t and the career I had spent over 40 years building ended in disgrace," Zeno said. " ... I have made some of the biggest mistakes during this latter part of my life. At a time when I should be celebrating a retirement from a beautiful career and planning the next stage of my life as a grandmother, I am instead standing before the court facing a possible prison sentence. And I am scared. Scared that I will not be there for my family, my friends, my son, my daughter and my brand new granddaughter."

Elena Fast, the Manhattan-based defense attorney for Ruhani, declined to comment when reached by email Wednesday afternoon.