Cash-for-Clients Scheme Lands Ex-Court Clerk and Lawyer in Prison

A former federal court clerk and a New York lawyer who together operated a long-running cash-for-clients bribery scheme were sentenced to prison on Monday, prosecutors said.

The former clerk, Dionisio Figueroa, 66, of Manhattan, was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted at trial in December of conspiracy, bribery and other charges, according to prosecutors and court filings. He was also ordered to forfeit $40,000, prosecutors said.

The lawyer, Telesforo Del Valle Jr., pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery and other charges in November, court filings show. Mr. Del Valle, 65, of Leonia, N.J., was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and fined $10,000, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors had sought sentences of about four years for Mr. Figueroa and about three years for Mr. Del Valle, court records show.

The men’s scheme ran from 2011 to 2022 and involved at least 45 criminal defendants in the Southern District of New York, where Mr. Figueroa worked in the magistrate clerk’s office, according to court records.

His duties included preparing bonds for defendants that allowed for their release from custody pending trial; advising defendants and their family members about the conditions that applied to such bonds; and ensuring the bonds were signed by all parties before a defendant was released, prosecutors said.

As a lawyer, prosecutors said, Mr. Del Valle represented many Southern District defendants over more than 20 years.

Mr. Figueroa used his position to encourage defendants to hire Mr. Del Valle, who he insisted was “especially equipped” to help them, prosecutors said. Some of the referrals were documented in ledger entries maintained by Mr. Del Valle’s firm, according to an indictment.

Most of those whom Mr. Figueroa steered to Mr. Del Valle already had free, court-appointed lawyers, but he encouraged them to switch anyway, the indictment says. Sometimes, the indictment says, Mr. Figueroa disparaged the court-appointed lawyers.

Mr. Figueroa told the family of one defendant waiting to post bail in 2018 that he “knew of a good attorney” who could get the person “out of trouble,” the indictment says. He then wrote Mr. Del Valle’s name and phone number on a piece of paper, the indictment says.

In exchange, according to the indictment, Mr. Del Valle paid Mr. Figueroa tens of thousands of dollars in bribes. Some were paid directly, prosecutors said; others came to Mr. Figueroa via cash-stuffed envelopes that his romantic partner picked up at Mr. Del Valle’s office.

Both men denied the scheme when confronted by federal agents in November 2022.

“The public relies on attorneys and court employees to maintain and validate its faith in our criminal justice system,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement. Mr. Del Valle and Mr. Figueroa, Mr. Williams said, had “undermined the fair administration of justice and the work of the many good people in the courthouse.”

Paul Evangelista, a federal public defender who represented Mr. Figueroa, declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Del Valle did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Del Valle was disbarred last month as a result of his guilty plea, according to a state court decision. Despite that, the website of his law firm, Del Valle & Associates, was active on Monday.

His biography on the site describes him as “a frequent lecturer and panelist for the American Bar Association on the topic of legal ethics” and a longtime member of the grievance committee for the state Appellate Division’s First Judicial Department — the panel that initiated the disbarment proceedings against him.

An email inquiry sent to the firm did not yield a response.