DA: Real estate agent admits stealing deposits from clients

A real estate agent from East Meadow pleaded guilty Friday to cheating 10 people out of more than $19,000 in deposits, the Nassau district attorney's office said.

Prosecutors will recommend 6 months in jail for Jamel Smith, 30, when he is sentenced on third-degree grand larceny, but his defense attorney said that the judge said Smith would not serve jail time if he repays all his victims. Smith's next court date is Dec. 15.

Smith falsely advertised apartment and house rentals well under the actual asking prices, then had the victims pay first and last months' rent as well as a one-month security deposit, prosecutors said. The properties were located in Hempstead, West Hempstead and Elmont.

When he was arrested in June 2012, Nassau police held a news conference and accused him of bilking more than 100 Nassau residents out of more than $200,000. They described him as a once-successful real estate agent hurt by the down market.

A felony complaint quoted Smith as saying, "I rented one house to a lot of different people. I screwed up. Sorry."

Smith's attorney, Michaelangelo Matera of Melville, said his client did not mean to hurt anyone.

Matera said the rental deals fell apart for various reasons, including one apartment that was declared illegal by the town and another that was rented out to a higher bidder. It was not immediately clear Friday why Smith held the funds instead of the landlords and why in one case the funds were given to Smith before the landlord had agreed on a renter.

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But when the deals collapsed, Smith spent his clients' rent and deposit money and could not return the funds, the attorney said.

"He got caught up and he's accepted responsibility," Matera said. "He understands what he did was wrong and he didn't intend to hurt anybody. He's doing everything in his power to make it right now by paying restitution in full."