Former Attorney From Central Islip Sentenced to Prison For Assaulting Woman: DA

A former attorney from Central Islip was sentenced to 60 days in jail for assaulting a woman in 2015, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

Lawrence Etah, 54, was found guilty of third degree assault by a jury on May 19 before District Court Judge Susan Kluewer, the DA said.

The trial lasted for ten days and the jury deliberated for an hour and a half. In addition to jail time, Etah was sentenced to three years’ probation.

In 2015 while working as an attorney in Hempstead, Etah was in an argument with a woman in the lobby of his office when the woman slapped a phone out of his hand, the DA said.

He then slapped her in the face, picked her up, slammed her head into a chair, threw her into the ground and kicked her in the body, Singas said. The incident was captured on video.

The woman was taken to Winthrop Hospital in Mineola and released that day. Etah was arrested on July 15, 2015. His ability to practice law was suspended in Feb. 2017 for three years for an unrelated matter, the DA said.

“This now-suspended lawyer sent his victim to the hospital when he brutally attacked her following a minor disagreement,” Singas said. “Lawrence Etah deserves the jail sentence he received for this disgusting display of violence and I am grateful to the Nassau and Hempstead police and our prosecutors for their outstanding work.”