STATEN ISLAND — A lawyer who stole nearly $2 million from a Staten Island cemetery to cover funds he took from his clients was slapped with more prison time on Tuesday for continuing to embezzle money while out on bail, the attorney general announced.
Timothy Griffin, 54, who lives in Connecticut, was re-arrested on April 22 and sentenced to 4-and-1/3 to 13 years in prison by Staten Island judge Stephen Rooney Tuesday for taking tens of thousands of dollars after his initial bust, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.
"This defendant stole from the clients of his law practice, and then stole millions from a charity in an attempt to disguise that theft," Schneiderman said in a statement. "Even after being charged, he continued to abuse the trust of his clients by stealing additional client funds."
Griffin took money from the United Hebrew Cemetery, at 122 Arthur Kill Rd., after he was appointed president to replace the previous chief, who was also arrested with his wife for stealing from the graveyard. Griffin pleaded guilty to grand larceny charges in February.
He used the stolen money to replace funds he took from his law clients' escrow account to buy fancy cars and a country club membership, Schneiderman said. While out on bail, Griffin stole more than $175,000 from his clients between March 2014 to March 2015, the attorney general said.
Griffin held his clients' money in escrow for pending real estate deals, Schneiderman said.
His current prison sentence will run consecutive to his six-month federal sentence for tax evasion charges in Connecticut, Schneiderman said.
