Disbarred Ocean County Attorney Charged With More Fraud, Prosecutor Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A disbarred attorney from Toms River who was charged in October with practicing law illegally is facing additional charges after more victims came forward, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

David T. Schlendorf, 54, who now lives in Holladay, Utah, but previously lived in Toms River, has been charged with four counts of theft by deception and five counts of unauthorized practice of law, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Schlendorf, a former assistant prosecutor who was disbarred in 2022, was initially charged in October with one count of theft by deception and one count of unauthorized practice of law after authorities learned a Toms River resident hired Schlendorf to represent him in a legal matter, paying him about $10,000 for his services, the prosecutor's office said.

Investigators also learned Schlendorf misrepresented himself as a licensed attorney, in spite of him being disbarred in New Jersey in December 2022, prosecutors have said.

Schlendorf, who also was disbarred in New York in 2024, admitted to the "knowing misappropriation of client funds" and acknowledged the allegation was true, according to the court record on the New York proceeding.

The prosecutor's office said the continuing investigatino has turned up five additional victims, who hired Schlendorf to represent them from January 2023 to September 2025. Those customers paid Schlendorf about $60,000 for his services, the prosecutor's office said.

Schlendorf, who was charged March 24, was served with the additional charges via a summons pending upcoming appearances in Ocean County Superior Court, the prosecutor's office said. He initially was arrested Oct. 7 and later released under New Jersey Bail Reform rules, the prosecutor's office said.

“We suspected there may be additional victims, and unfortunately we are finding this to be true," Billhimer said.

Anyone who paid Schlendorf for legal services after December 2022 should call Detective Jason Putkowski of the Toms River Police Department at 732-349-0150, ext. 1349, or Sgt. Lindsay Llauget of the prosecutor's office at 732-929-2027, ext. 3462.

Schlendorf was an assistant prosecutor in the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office from 2000 to 2003 and an assistant prosecutor in the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office from 1997 to 1999, according to his LinkedIn account.