Lawyer Who Bilked His Clients of $7 Million Gets 22 1/2-Year Term

An attorney who may have stolen more from his clients than any other U.S. lawyer was sentenced Monday to the maximum of 22 1/2 years in prison and ordered to repay more than $7 million.

Steven J. Romer, 55, was convicted Dec. 9 after a three-month jury trial on 14 counts of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a forged instrument.

State Justice John Bradley ordered that Romer serve 7 1/2 years before being eligible for parole.

The thefts totaled more than $7 million from four clients, including an orphan who lost her entire $740,000 inheritance and a businessman who lost two multimillion-dollar trusts he set up for his children.

The businessman, William Marion, was pleased by the sentence. “I think he deserves everything he gets,” Marion said outside the courtroom. He said that despite the huge losses to Romer, he was still solvent.

Romer contended that General Motors framed him as part of a conspiracy with others to stop him from developing an electric car battery. He said they used computer transfers of clients’ funds to make him look like a thief. GM denied his claim.

Assistant District Atty. Roslynn Mauskopf argued for the maximum sentence, saying Romer caused serious financial difficulty and inflicted emotional pain on his victims to satisfy his greed.

Mauskopf said she has evidence that Romer stole an additional $7 million from five other clients. Almost none of the money has been recovered, she said.

Frederick Miller, director of the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, said Romer’s was the stiffest sentence ever in the state for such a crime. He said before trial that the theft was the largest by a lawyer in U.S. history.