Fake Lawyer With Hudson Valley Clients Sentenced

A woman who pretended to be an attorney and operated a fake law firm (stealing a real lawyer's name as a 'partner') was sentenced Thursday to 1.5 - 3 years in state prison. Antonia Barrone was also ordered to pay nearly $270,000 in restitution to the New Yorkers she defrauded, including residents of Ulster and Westchester counties.

She mostly preyed on inmates and their families, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in the announcement.

“Deceiving vulnerable New Yorkers into paying for unlicensed legal services is reprehensible, costing them thousands each and jeopardizing their rights,” said Schneiderman. “My office won’t hesitate to prosecute those who defraud New Yorkers by practicing without a license.”

Between September 1, 2012 and April 30, 2017, Barrone pretended to be an attorney and stole thousands of dollars from the families of inmates who hired her to provide legal representation for their loved ones. In furtherance of her nearly five-year scheme, Barrone filed legal documents with forged signatures and fake notary stamps, wrote letters on behalf of consumers on letterhead bearing the name of the fictitious law firm “Stacchini & Barrone, Attorneys at Law,” and appropriated the name of a licensed attorney, without that attorney’s knowledge.

During the course of her scheme, Barrone made use of multiple different names, including Mario Vrendenberg, Antonio Barrone, Mario Stacchini, Mario Helems, T. Helems, and Mark Vredenburg.

In May 2017, the Attorney General’s Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit in Albany County Supreme Court against NYS Prisoner Assistance Center, Inc., operating as the NYS Prisoner Assistance Center or NY Parole Aids, and its owner, Barrone. The AG's office also filed a felony criminal complaint.

The prosecutor said Barrone and the entities she operated had over 400 clients seeking legal services throughout New York State, including Albany, Cayuga, Clinton, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schoharie, Suffolk, Ulster, Warren, and Westchester counties.

The suit charged Barrone with bilking hundreds of New Yorkers, including prison inmates and their families, out of thousands of dollars to handle administrative parole appeals and other legal matters. The lawsuit alleged that Barrone operated these fraudulent businesses from her home and duped hundreds of consumers by falsely claiming to be an attorney and by misleading consumers to think that the NYS Prisoner Assistance Center was staffed with attorneys.

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