Colucci sentenced to 18 months in jail

The ex-lawyer owes the IRS more than $320,000.
CLEVELAND -- Ex-lawyer Mark S. Colucci told the federal judge who sentenced him to 18 months in prison for tax evasion that he put his wife and three children in hell.
"I'm humbled, humiliated and crushed," Colucci said as he faced U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. O'Malley Thursday afternoon. "If it wasn't for my family, I wouldn't be here."
He said he loved the law and never practiced it for the money. He expressed remorse at shaming his father's name.
Colucci, 46, of Austintown, admitted that he collected $29,727 in income taxes and Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes from his employees but failed to pay the IRS. The years involved were 1996 through 2001. He also failed to pay $291,149 in personal income tax for calendar years 1997 through 2001.
Judge O'Malley said she received numerous letters from individuals who voiced their opinion on his punishment, but it was for conduct not connected to the tax evasion case.
In June, the Mahoning County Bar Association filed a complaint against Colucci, charging that he did secret legal work for James A. Traficant Jr. when the then-congressman was defending himself against federal bribery charges in 2001. The bar also accused Colucci of charging excessive fees and not doing legal work for his clients. Many of Colucci's former clients have since banded together to recoup legal fees or have their cases reopened.
Judge O'Malley said she also received letters of support, including one from Colucci's 12-year-old daughter. "It's one of the most powerful letters I ever received," she said.
The judge said she had to temper mercy with justice and noted that lawyers are held to a higher standard. She said Colucci was a lawyer who repeatedly violated the law, and she had no doubt his family's been ruined by his conduct.
She sentenced him to 18 months in prison, followed by two years' supervised release. He must participate in a 500-hour drug treatment program and also receive mental health treatment while incarcerated.
Judge O'Malley did not impose a fine on Colucci. She said that, after he pays the IRS, his money should go to pay his former clients.
Quotable
"I'm coming to grips with the damage I've done," Colucci told the judge. "I apologize to my clients and I'm working to correct it through the Clients Compensation Fund."
Colucci remains free on bond until the Bureau of Prisons tells him where to report. Once released, he must participate in outpatient drug treatment and cooperate with the IRS. He owes $321,149 plus interest and penalties.
Colucci's Canfield lawyer, David J. Betras, had implored Judge O'Malley to sentence at the low end of the 12- to 18-month range. Betras said Colucci is bipolar, an alcoholic and addicted to Xanax, and what he did to his clients was like a "train wreck."
Betras said he didn't know where Colucci's genius ended and the mania, followed by crushing depression, began. Colucci's legal expertise resulted in winning multimillion-dollar lawsuits.
Betras said his client once called from Guatemala, where he'd gone for a genocide trial, taking thousands of dollars with him to give away. Another time, Colucci said he was on his way to Iraq.
"He's a beggar at your gate, pleading for mercy," Betras told Judge O'Malley. "He went from consorting with movie stars and famous people to food stamps."
Colucci, as his lawyer talked, stood with his head down. In the gallery, his wife, Rose, had tears in her eyes, and a woman next to her, a former client he helped, used a tissue to dab her eyes.
Betras told Judge O'Malley that Colucci's car was repossessed and the bank is foreclosing on his home. "He's penniless, he's broke."
The Canfield lawyer said that if he had a million dollars he'd pay, not what Colucci owes the government, but what he owes his former clients. "I feel bad for the people he harmed."
Betras said Colucci was not like the corrupt "bottom-feeding" lawyers from Mahoning County who Judge O'Malley has sentenced in the past few years. Betras had begun his speech to the judge by "putting on a taxpayers' hat" and thanking her and federal prosecutors for cleaning up Mahoning County.
In July, the Ohio Supreme Court, based on the bar association complaint, suspended the Colucci's license. He later resigned his license.