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Former Long Island resident Douglas Valente, age 57, now of Florida, was sentenced to between one and four years in prison in Suffolk County Court on Thursday, Aug. 22.
Prosecutors said Valente, the former principal attorney at the Valente Law Group in Stony Brook, stole more than $800,000 from three former clients by taking money from his escrow account.
Among the victims was a client who had sold a home during a pending divorce proceeding.
Instead of holding the $400,000 in proceeds from the sale in his escrow account, Valente admitted to using the funds for business and personal expenses.
Valente also admitted to stealing more than $181,000 from an elderly client who sold her home.
He had been required to send half of the proceeds to his client and the other half to her matrimonial attorney to be held in escrow until her divorce was finalized.
Instead, Valente admitted to pocketing the proceeds meant for the other attorney. As a result of the theft, his client was unable to obtain the remaining proceeds from the sale of her home once her divorce was finalized.
Valente confessed to stealing another $248,000 from Guaranteed Rate Inc., a mortgage lender.
In December 2023, he pleaded guilty to three counts of grand larceny, all felonies.
In addition to his prison time, he was ordered to pay $826,525 in restitution.
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