Former Lawyer Sentenced to Prison for Mail Fraud Convictions Involving Scheme to Defraud Elderly Clients

WASHINGTON—Former District of Columbia lawyer and Hearing Examiner Reginald Jerome Rogers, 55, of Bowie, Maryland, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts to 57 months of imprisonment stemming from his July 2006 convictions following trial on 13 counts of mail fraud involving a scheme to defraud elderly clients, announced U.S. Attorney Jeffrey L. Taylor and Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Rogers was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison sentence and was ordered to pay restitution of $385,000 to the victims of his scheme. The sentence also included an order of forfeiture in the amount of $385,000.

According to the evidence at trial, in July 2006, Rogers practiced law from his home office in Bowie, Maryland and handled the financial affairs of elderly clients and their estates in the Washington area. He designated several elderly women clients as his “priority” clients for whom he not only performed legal work, but also did household chores such as grocery shopping and running errands for these clients. By performing these household chores, the defendant gained his clients’ trust and induced them to turn over control of their finances to him as their fiduciary. After obtaining control over the clients’ financial assets, the defendant unlawfully diverted money from their accounts for his own personal gain without their knowledge and consent. Rogers also transferred funds between the elderly clients’ accounts to conceal his diversions, and concealed his scheme by making false statements to elderly clients regarding the status of their funds and property.

In announcing today’s sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor and Assistant Director Persichini praised the work of the FBI special agents who investigated the case. They also commended U.S. Attorney’s Office Legal Assistants Lisa Robinson and Teesha Tobias, IT Specialist Jeannie Latimore-Brown, Victim/Witness Program Specialist Maria Shumar, former Auditor Nicholas Novak, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Griffith, Diane Lucas and Virginia Cheatham.

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