Federal judge says of attorney, 'I'm not sure that any rational lawyer would ever do anything like this'
Perry S. Reich, the Long Island, N.Y., attorney who stands convicted of forging a federal magistrate judge's order and lying to the government, was sentenced Friday to 27 months in prison after a judge described his plight as "disquieting" and unlike any case he had ever seen.
Reich, 57, was a respected attorney whose conviction stunned many in the legal community who knew him from his days as a clerk at the Appellate Division, 2nd Department, and at the Court of Appeals, and later as an appellate specialist with a varied practice.
Eastern District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis likened Reich's story to a Greek tragedy.
"I don't know why he did what he did -- I don't know if he knows why he did what he did," Judge Garaufis said. "I'm not sure that any rational lawyer would ever do anything like this. It defies logic."
Reich spoke briefly, expressing regret and asking the judge to consider that he had been a "good and honest lawyer" for 30 years.
"I'm standing here today with my career destroyed, my life in shambles," he said.
Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of between 63 and 78 months, or 6 1/2 years, while the Probation Department suggested between 27 and 31 months.
Note to self: Don't ever do this. Details here from the New York Law Journal via Law.com.