Man Gets 2 Years for Impersonating a Lawyer

A Los Angeles man who used his charm and a stolen state bar number to impersonate a lawyer was sentenced Wednesday to serve two years in prison, complete 120 hours of community service and repay $80,000 in legal fees from unsuspecting clients.

Rigoberto Vasquez, 32, collected the fees over a three-year period in which he duped judges, prosecutors and about 80 clients before he was caught this year, Deputy Dist. Atty. Alexis de la Garza said.

Vasquez was caught after another lawyer in a divorce case became suspicious and checked Vasquez’s credentials.

In June, he pleaded guilty in Inglewood Municipal Court to two counts of grand theft and to one count each of identity theft and impersonating a lawyer.

As part of a plea agreement reached at the time, Vasquez was to have completed 120 hours of community and pay $50,000 in restitution before the sentencing hearing. But he did not.

“He came in today with not one penny, not one hour of community service completed,” said De la Garza. “He has continued to perpetuate a fraud.”

She said the deception is particularly troubling because his clients were mostly poor immigrants. None of his clients were in court today, De la Garza said.