Disbarred attorney used alias, lied to get jobs in D.C., Florida, California, Michigan

A disbarred attorney who stole money from clients and used fake identities to land jobs in multiple states also lied to a federal judge last month, delaying his plea hearing, prosecutors said.

Richard Crosby III – who pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Cincinnati to three counts of Social Security number fraud – was initially scheduled to plead June 25.

According to prosecutors, Crosby, 36, used identifying information belonging to a girlfriend, his elderly father and a dead person from North Carolina to defraud law firms that either hired him or considered hiring him. He also lied about being a former University of Michigan football player and a U.S. Marine.

At that June 25 hearing, U.S. District Judge Jeffery Hopkins asked Crosby a question that all judges ask before accepting a plea: Did he take any medications in the last 24 hours that might affect him?

Crosby said he had taken medication that slowed down his mind. Then, according to court documents, there was a sidebar discussion between Hopkins, Crosby’s attorney Zenaida Lockard and a prosecutor. Lockard explained that Crosby told her that he had been to a hospital the morning of the hearing and was “given a morphine drip and other drugs,” the documents say.

Feds: GPS data exposed lie

Based on that information, Hopkins rescheduled the hearing. But according to prosecutors, Crosby didn’t go to a hospital before the hearing. Instead, immediately afterwards, he drove to a hospital parking lot – and didn’t leave his vehicle.

As part of his bond, Crosby wore a device that monitored his location. Prosecutors said GPS data showed that Crosby stayed in the parking lot of Bethesda North Hospital in Montgomery for 40 minutes.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Landry said in court documents that it was an attempt by Crosby “to create the appearance that he was at a hospital on the day of the hearing.”

Hopkins revoked Crosby’s bond, and records show he has been held at the Butler County Jail since July 1.

Crosby's plea agreement includes a recommended sentence of three years in prison. He also has agreed to pay nearly $171,000 in restitution to law firms he defrauded. Hopkins has not yet scheduled the sentencing.

Crosby used alias 'Richard Williams'

Crosby’s federal case involves crimes he committed after being charged in Hamilton County in 2021 with stealing from clients when he was working at the Cincinnati law firm, Strauss Troy. The firm fired him in 2019, and he surrendered his law license two years later.

One of the clients was a woman Crosby dated and became engaged to while he was still married, according to a Board of Professional Conduct complaint.

While he was facing state charges and being investigated by the Cincinnati Bar Association, Crosby used the alias "Richard Williams" and the email address “richardcwilliamsesq@gmail.com” to briefly land a job in 2021 with a Washington, D.C., law firm.

The next year, in June 2022, after being disbarred in Ohio and still facing charges in Hamilton County, Crosby used the alias to get a job at a California law firm that paid him $150,000 a year. He kept the job for only a few months.

By September 2022, Crosby – again posing as Richard Williams – applied for a job with a Miami law firm. In a Zoom meeting with a recruiter, he claimed he was a licensed attorney in New York and Washington, D.C. He ultimately was hired at a starting annual salary of $185,000. Crosby used his girlfriend’s Social Security number and banking information to complete the firm's paperwork.

Crosby was fired from the Miami firm after it received an inquiry in April 2023 from an investigator with the Clermont County Child Support Enforcement office, exposing Crosby's true identity.

Prosecutors say Crosby used his alias again in July 2023 to interview with a different California law firm. He didn’t get that job after being asked to verify that he had worked at a particular firm. Crosby simply withdrew from consideration, prosecutors said.

A few days later, Crosby used the alias to try to get a job with a law firm in Coral Gables, Florida. This time, according to prosecutors, he doctored a screenshot of an attorney from the Washington, D.C., bar online directory, Richard Coleman Williams Jr., to attach with his resume.

The firm offered Crosby a starting salary of $195,000 per year with a $10,000 signing bonus but eventually determined he was using a fake identity and did not hire him.

Hired by firms in Michigan, California

In August and September 2023, Crosby used the Richard Williams alias to get jobs at law firms in Michigan and California. The Michigan firm fired him after finding discrepancies in his credentials, according to prosecutors. For the California job, which paid $250,000 a year, prosecutors say Crosby used the Social Security number of a dead man from North Carolina and claimed to be a former University of Michigan football player and U.S. Marine.

Crosby was arrested on federal charges in October 2023.

In January of this year, Crosby told a Clermont County judge that he couldn’t attend a potential hearing regarding child support because he would be out of the country on travel that was approved by both “federal and state courts,” according to court documents.

But Crosby had already surrendered his passport and no travel had been approved.

Anyone with information about Crosby’s conduct is urged to call the tip line for the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Disbarred attorney Richard Crosby used alias to get jobs in 3 states