Today marks the last full day of Discovery in the lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Lawyers Trust against Vinnie Leonelli-Spina, owner of the blog fauxrealityentertainment.com and A Diamond Public Relations.
This Discovery began in September of 2016 and will officially end tomorrow, the 19th, when the court will reconvene to either mediate a settlement or set a jury trial date.
Vinnie was disbarred in 2008 for knowingly misappropriating client funds. “Misappropiation of funds” is a class of theft where someone who has been given money to hold in trust uses that money for their own purposes.
After Vinnie was disbarred the New Jersey Lawyer’s Trust reimbursed the money Vinnie had misappropriated from her clients. They paid out a total of $323,738 and since then she hasn’t repaid them one penny. Thus the lawsuit.
During the course of the Discovery another misappropriated $16,000 was uncovered and added to her debt for a total of $339,738.
A jury trial will be very interesting considering that back when Discovery began in September of 2016, nobody in the New Jersey legal system had any clue Vinnie had been violating her disbarment for years by continuing to practice law without a license.
Which brings us to the Prosecutor’s Office and their ongoing investigation into Vinnie for practicing law without a license. I believe Brandon King’s former lawyer, Steve Harrelson, has been contacted by the Prosecutors Office.
Yes, this is the same Steve Harrelson, lawyer and former Arkansas congressman, who submitted a written affidavit attesting that he believed Vinnie Spina and Toni Mollica to be the same person.
Brandon’s legal fees were paid by the Spina Law Firm and Mr Harrelson was in communication with “Toni” via email and phone while he represented Brandon.
Shortly after Mr Harrelson’s affidavit became public knowledge, a bar complaint was filed against him by Brandon which I’m sure was just coincidence and not a petty retaliation instigated by Brandon’s boss (Vinnie Spina) to shut Mr Harrelson up.
Anyway, in New Jersey practicing law without a license is the equivalent of a misdemeanor except in special cases (which I’m sure Vinnie’s must be since the Prosecutor’s Office is being pretty thorough) when it is handled as a fourth degree felony.
The punishment for a 4th degree felony is below and it’s not all that bad considering how much Vinnie has benefitted over the years posing as Toni Mollica.
I bet Vinnie hopes they just give her a $10,000 fine so she can just ignore and not pay it. That’s apparently what she’s been doing for the past 9 years but we’ll see what happens once the jury trial starts in her case with New Jersey Lawyer’s Trust.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Vinnie in court being sued by a gang of very experienced and angry lawyers who want their money back.
Yes I've seen it but that isn't a business, it's an old advertisement for her services as an attorney. Per her disbarment terms she was supposed to have removed her name from any directories that listed attorneys but if you google her you'll still find her listed as an attorney on some sites.
Did you see this?Vinnie had a business called Abortion Alternativeshttp://m.usbizs.com/NJ/Elmwood_Park/Vincenza_Leonelli_Spina_XVq.html