Long Island attorney sentenced for embezzling $1.8M from clients
A Long Island real estate lawyer was sentenced Wednesday to up to 10.5 years in prison for embezzling nearly $1.8 million from clients and using the money to finance his lavish lifestyle, authorities said.
Terrance Dougherty, 35, of Oyster Bay, pleaded guilty Sept. 8 to 13 counts of grand theft and one count of fraudulent scheme.
Prosecutors said he stole money from the escrow accounts of at least 32 clients, whom he represented in the sale and purchase of properties.
Between March 2021 and November 2024, Dougherty deposited nearly $1.8 million from real estate transactions into an attorney trust account he maintained. On Nov. 29, 2024, the balance in that account was just over $5, prosecutors said.
An investigation revealed that Dougherty took funds from the attorney’s account through cash withdrawals, transfers to another business checking account, and multiple credit card accounts. The money was then used to pay for various personal expenses, including visits to nightclubs, stays in luxury hotels and dinners at expensive restaurants.
Dougherty “was living his life while his clients were dealing with having nowhere to live,” Nassau County Prosecutor Anne Donnelly said, calling him “a thief who spent more than $1 million, spending the funds tied up in his business trust account until it was almost zero.”
That included nearly $200,000 he spent at gentlemen’s clubs in New York and Long Island in just over five days.
“Terrance Dougherty is a disgrace to the legal profession, and he will find no luxury accommodations for the next decade in a state prison,” Donnelly said.
Dougherty, who turned himself in to authorities on April 30, was sentenced Wednesday to 3.5 to 10.5 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $1.8 million in restitution.
