Dickman was facing a maximum prison term of six years for stealing inactive attorney Stephen Dickerman’s identity and then using it to trick more than 50 people into hiring him. He faced as much as six years in prison but, despite the irate victims, Dickman – who in court was wearing a yarmulke and using a cane to walk – was sentenced to only 33 months in prison after pleading for mercy and insisting he had rediscovered the Judaism of his youth while in jail awaiting trial.
Elderly ‘Ba’al Teshuva’ Con Man Gets Reduced Sentence From Brooklyn Judge
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The victims of disbarred Brooklyn lawyer Stephen Dickman lashed out at the 70-year-old con man Friday in Brooklyn federal court. But that didn't sway the judge.
According to the New York Post, Dickman was facing a maximum prison term of six years for stealing inactive attorney Stephen Dickerman’s identity and then using it to trick more than 50 people into hiring him. He faced as much as six years in prison but, despite the irate victims, Dickman – who in court was wearing a yarmulke and using a cane to walk – was sentenced to only 33 months in prison after pleading for mercy and insisting he had rediscovered the Judaism of his youth while in jail awaiting trial.
He also claimed to be frail and disabled.
"I’m an “old, sick man,” Dickman told the judge.
The judge bought it. The victims didn’t.
“I felt like I was morally destroyed and abused as a person. He knew he took money from poor and sick people,” Natalia Gundareva, who paid Dickman thousands of dollars to handle her disability case, reportedly said.
In August 2014 FailedMessiah.com reported on Dickerman's arrest and his bizarre behavior:
Who Is He? Allegedly Fake Lawyer Busted, FBI, US Attorney, Federal Judge Don’t Know Who “Shlomo Dickerman” Really Is
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.comGray-haired and bearded, yarmulke-wearing “Stephen G. ‘Shlomo’ Dickerman” hung out his lawyer’s shingle in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn in 2009 and began taking cases, charging clients $400 an hour for legal advice and state and local trial work, the New York Times reported.
In 2012, “Dickerman” applied to handle federal cases in the Eastern District of New York, which includes Brooklyn. But by this summer, federal authorities had become suspicious enough to investigate “Dickerman,” who was soon arrested. He arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn yesterday on identity theft and making fraudulent statements charges – whoever he is.
That’s because as of now, “Dickerman’s” fiancee, the judge, the prosecution and the FBI really don’t know.
The federal magistrate judge, Ramon E. Reyes Jr., refused to grant “Dickerman” bail because of that.
Law enforcement officials say all they know is that he is not the real Stephen G. Dickerman, who was a lawyer for more than 40 years, but who has not renewed his license to practice law since 2008.
The allegedly fake Dickerman allegedly stole the real Dickerman’s attorney registration number and identity, and then later tried to change his first name on that license to Shlomo for “religious reasons.”
The allegedly fake Dickerman has reportedly represented clients in at least 12 federal lawsuits heard in the same federal court where he was arraigned.
Lawyers who had dealt with he allegedly fake Dickerman told the Times they were shocked.
“He did not appear, necessarily, to be a good lawyer; he didn’t appear to be a non-lawyer,” David S. Stone of Stone & Magnanini reportedly said.
For his part, the allegedly fake Dickerman continued to insist he was the real Stephen G. Dickerman – even though prosecutors and the FBI say he isn’t, and even though the information on his driver’s license doesn’t match.
The allegedly fake Dickerman told federal court officials in his 2012 application to practice in the Eastern District that he had a master’s degree in law from New York University.
NYU reportedly has no record that eaither a Stephen Dickerman or a Shlomo Dickerman received that degree.
A federal prosecutor noted that when the allegedly fake Dickerman was arrested, he had in his possession a New York State driver’s license in the name of Steven H. Dickman. That Dickman, “appears to be a disbarred attorney with a criminal history” that includes two convictions on grand larceny charges, of which one resulted in a three-year prison sentence, the Times reported. “The government has really no idea who the defendant is at this point,” the prosecutor continued, adding that it was waiting for the results of a fingerprint analysis.
The allegedly fake Dickerman’s layer then told the court the birth date her client had given to court officers – June 1942 – did not match the one on the Steven Dickman driver’s license – February 1945 – he had when arrested.
And, the allegedly fake Dickerman’s attorney added, even though his fiancee had posted a surety for him, even she doesn’t really know who the allegedly fake Dickerman really is.
The magistrate judge looked at the driver’s license and then denied bail.
“I don’t know who this gentleman is,” he said.
The allegedly fake Dickerman has several current cases he’s handling in federal court.
The most recent was reportedly filed on Tuesday.
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Who Is He? Allegedly Fake Lawyer Busted, FBI, US Attorney, Federal Judge Don’t Know Who “Shlomo Dickerman” Really Is
[Hat Tip: The Lion.]