New York criminal defense attorneys for Steve Mandala were unable to convince Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman into granting leniency to their white-collar criminal defendant earlier this week. Steve Mandala was on trial for second-degree larceny. He is facing allegations of stealing from Merrill Lynch during his two month employment stint at the investment bank.
Rather, Justice Berkman reprimanded the New York criminal defense lawyer on Wednesday, saying that the deal presented by the New York criminal defense attorneys was too light. As a result, the Justice refused approval of the deal.
The 29 year old Steve Mandala allegedly misled the management at Merrill Lynch, which is now owned by Bank of America. Upon application for employment, Steven Mandala apparently held himself out to be a lucrative money-maker at his previous job and provided documentation to that effect. As a result of his fraudulent statements and misinformation, Merrill Lynch subsequently retained Steve Mandala, offering him not only a job, but also a $780,000 loan which was to be repaid over eight years.
Steve Mandala had no intention of repaying the loan. Rather, he quit the job and made some lavish purchases with the proceeds; including a Ferrari.
In his proposed deal, his New York criminal defense lawyers argued that he had paid back half of the money and intended to plead guilty to charges of second-degree larceny. As a result, Steve Mandala's attorneys argued that his sentence should be one to three years, instead of the two to six years sentence he was subject to:
"You steal money, you give it back, you avoid [a longer sentence]? I don't get it," said Justice Berkman on Wednesday.
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