Plainview attorney pleads guilty to stealing from clients

A Plainview attorney pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge following his April arrest for stealing money from a Brooklyn couple who hired him, the Nassau district attorney's office said.

Authorities said Matthew Kogan, 40, has since repaid the $32,500 he took from the clients after representing them in a lawsuit that settled for that amount.

A prosecutor will ask for a sentence of six months in jail and five years of probation at Kogan's September sentencing on the third-degree grand larceny charge, a district attorney's spokesman said.

Authorities said Kogan used the money on expenses including credit card and loan payments, and payroll, and that his felony plea means he'll be disbarred.

Kogan's attorney, Bob McDonald of Mineola, said Friday that his client paid back all the money before pleading guilty to the charge he was arrested on.

"There's a full acceptance that what he did was wrong," McDonald said.