Ex-Attorney From Howell Gets Community Service In Theft Case

TRENTON, NJ — A Howell man who was an attorney and partner in a Newark law firm has been sentenced to 200 hours of community service for conspiring to steal more than $100,000 from clients.

Gerald M. Saluti Jr., 51, of Howell, was sentenced to 4 years' probation on the condition he complete 200 hours of community service by Superior Court Judge Donald G. Collester Jr. in Morris County, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced.

Saluti, who pleaded guilty on Feb. 21 to a third-degree conspiracy charge, also permanently forfeited his law license and paid restitution of $137,652, Grewal's office said.

Saluti's partner, Richard M. Roberts, 81, of Bloomfield, was sentenced to five years of probation and 270 hours of community service in the case. He admitted stealing $20,000 from clients of his firm. Roberts also will be required to pay restitution in an amount to be determined.

Roberts on July 23 pleaded guilty to third-degree charges of perjury and theft by failure to make required disposition of property received. The state had recommended that Roberts be sentenced to up to 364 days in jail.

Roberts was on trial when he decided to plead guilty on the second day of testimony. Saluti was testifying against him before the jury.

An investigation revealed that from December 2012 through August 2013, Roberts and Saluti conspired to steal funds from the firm’s attorney trust account. In total, just over $140,000 was stolen from four clients. The funds included settlement awards owed to the clients and money the two men were obligated to hold in escrow or use to make payments on behalf of the clients.

"Instead of upholding the law and guarding the interests of their clients, as was their duty as attorneys, Roberts and Saluti stole client funds from their attorney trust account," Grewal said.

"These convictions send a message that we will not tolerate lawyers who act dishonestly and betray the trust of their clients," said Thomas Eicher, director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

Roberts admitted lying under oath and to law enforcement when he said he never authorized the practice administrator for their firm, Gabriel Iannacone, to make Roberts' alimony payments using the funds from the attorney trust account. Roberts said he did tell Iannacone to make alimony payments for him and that he knew they were coming from the firm’s attorney trust account.

Ianncone pleaded guilty in 2017 to third-degree conspiracy in connection with the improper withdrawals and payments from the attorney trust account. He died in September 2018.

Roberts and Saluti were suspended from practicing law before surrendering their licenses, with Roberts suspended in November 2015, and Saluti in February 2014.

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