THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508220273
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
A former lawyer on Monday admitted embezzling $80,000 from clients and his former law firm, but he will serve no jail time if a judge approves his plea agreement.
The former lawyer, Joseph James Basgier Jr., 44, pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to three counts of embezzlement. He faced up to 30 years in prison.
Instead, prosecutors agreed that Basgier's sentence - three concurrent 10-year terms - should be suspended on condition of good behavior for 10 years.
State sentencing guidelines recommend no prison time for embezzlement, but they do recommend prison time for stealing the same amount of money in a robbery, said Basgier's attorney, James O. Broccoletti.
The difference, said Broccoletti, is that robbery involves the threat or use of force. ``There is no violence to a person involved'' in embezzlement, Broccoletti said.
Basgier and prosecutor William Monroe declined to comment.
For at least one former client, Basgier's actions had serious and long-lasting consequences.
``I lost my businesses. I lost my home. I lost all credit rating I've ever had,'' testified Francis Galiney of Portsmouth, who hired Basgier's law firm to file a civil lawsuit for his auto business in 1988.
Galiney said Basgier never filed the lawsuit. Instead, Basgier lied and later showed the client a forged letter from an opposing attorney that supposedly offered a settlement of the case, Galiney testified.
Prosecutors say that when Galiney discovered the lie, Basgier paid him $50,000 out of the law firm's escrow account. That was the basis of the first embezzlement charge.
Galiney said Basgier owed him more money. He said the lawyer had agreed to pay him $131,000 over several years.
In court Monday, the prosecutor asked that Basgier be ordered to pay $50,000 restitution to Galiney. ``Anything would help me at this time,'' Galiney testified.
Basgier's attorney, however, argued that Galiney was not a victim of Basgier's criminal acts, that the money was embezzled from the law firm. If Basgier owes any money to his former client, Broccoletti argued, that is a civil matter.
Judge Edward W. Hanson Jr. tentatively agreed but asked both sides to submit briefs on the issue.
Basgier also pleaded guilty to embezzling $24,000 from a second client, D.J.W. Construction Co., and $6,305 from a third client, Sadler Material Inc.
In addition, a title insurance company sued Basgier in June, accusing him of taking an $84,206 check from a client's home-mortgage refinancing without paying off the client's first mortgage. That suit is pending. No criminal charges were filed.
In a similar case, a Portsmouth couple sued Basgier in 1993 for $56,000 that was missing after they refinanced their house. Basgier was their closing attorney. The couple won a $69,000 judgment against Basgier but could not collect it because Basgier was broke. They eventually reached a settlement with their mortgage company.
All the embezzlements occurred from 1991 to 1993, when Basgier was a partner in the law firm of Steinhilber & Basgier. The firm, which had offices on Magic Hollow Boulevard, closed in January 1993.
That same month, Basgier checked into a psychiatric institution, according to court papers. The State Bar began investigating Basgier soon after. He surrendered his law license in March 1993. He now works as a title searcher.
He will be formally sentenced Sept. 19.
KEYWORDS: EMBEZZLEMENT by CNB