When he utilized for a job at a California legislation agency final September, he recognized himself as Christopher “Wealthy” Miller-Williams and claimed to be an ex-Marine who attended the College of Michigan Faculty of Regulation.
He stated he had performed soccer on the College of Michigan, labored as in-house counsel at Bristol Myers Squibb, a biopharmaceutical firm, and was licensed to follow legislation in New York and Washington, D.C.
Impressed, the Irvine agency employed him as an legal professional to the tune of $250,000 a yr. The one downside? None of it was actual.
The month after he was employed, federal brokers arrested Miller-Williams underneath his actual identify: Richard Louis Crosby III.
This week, Crosby, of Mason, Ohio, pleaded responsible in Cincinnati to a few counts of Social Safety quantity fraud tied to false identities he used to acquire employment with at the least seven legislation companies, together with three in California, in line with the U.S. legal professional’s workplace for the Southern District of Ohio. The workplace didn’t present the names of the hiring legislation companies.
All through his scheme, prosecutors say, Crosby used figuring out info belonging to his aged father, his girlfriend, a useless man and others. Between 2021 and 2023, working principally from the Cincinnati space, he broke the legislation so he might follow legislation in three states and the District of Columbia.
Richard Louis Crosby III, pictured in a photograph supplied to federal legislation enforcement by a accomplice at a legislation agency he utilized to.
(U.S. legal professional’s workplace for the Southern District of Ohio)
Crosby’s federal public defender didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Based on a plea settlement Crosby signed final month, the 37-year-old really graduated from the College of Dayton Faculty of Regulation and was admitted to the Ohio bar in Could 2014.
The Cincinnati Bar Assn. on Nov. 6, 2020, filed a criticism towards Crosby, alleging he had violated quite a few guidelines {of professional} conduct whereas employed at a legislation agency within the metropolis, in line with the plea settlement.
In June and November 2021, officers say, Crosby was indicted and charged with crimes associated to stealing consumer funds. After the indictments, the U.S. District Courtroom for the Southern District of Ohio entered an order disbarring Crosby.
Crosby was arrested in Could 2022, pleaded responsible in each circumstances and was sentenced to probation, in line with the settlement.
However whilst his costs within the June and November circumstances have been pending, Crosby admitted to job searching.
In June 2021, Crosby used the alias “Richard Williams” to e-mail with a D.C. legislation agency and supplied a resume crammed with false info, in line with the plea settlement. The agency briefly employed Crosby as an legal professional.
Crosby later utilized to a California legislation agency in June 2022 — at which level he’d been disbarred and arrested — figuring out himself as Wealthy Williams and utilizing his father’s Social Safety quantity. The agency supplied him a place as an affiliate legal professional with a wage of $150,000.
He labored there for about three months and was paid $37,500. It’s unclear why he left that job.
Crosby then used his alias to use for an legal professional place with a Miami legislation agency in September 2022, in line with the settlement. He met with one of many agency’s hiring managers in Florida and was supplied a job with a beginning wage of $185,000 per yr with a $5,000 signing bonus.
He used his girlfriend’s Social Safety quantity, passport quantity and banking info to finish his paperwork, he admitted within the plea settlement.
The next yr, in April, the agency acquired an inquiry from an investigator with a Baby Help Enforcement Workplace in Ohio. Because of this, the agency realized of Crosby’s true id and fired him.
Between October 2022 and March 2023, the agency had paid Crosby round $83,000 and in addition paid a recruiter round $50,000 to recruit Crosby, in line with a felony criticism filed in court docket.
In July 2023, Crosby interviewed with the founding accomplice of a Los Angeles legislation agency utilizing his alias. He falsely claimed to work on the legislation agency of Kirkland & Ellis — which has workplaces world wide — and requested a wage of $200,000 and a $15,000 signing bonus.
The accomplice agreed to the phrases however requested Crosby to offer proof of bar membership and confirm who he labored with at Kirkland & Ellis. Two days later, Crosby despatched the accomplice an e-mail withdrawing his curiosity within the job, in line with the settlement.
Quickly after, Crosby once more used the alias to attempt to get a job at a legislation agency in Coral Gables, Fla. He doctored a display shot of the identify Richard Coleman Williams Jr. within the on-line D.C. bar membership listing to connect along with his resume.
The agency supplied Crosby a beginning wage of $195,000 per yr with a $10,000 signing bonus. The agency later decided Crosby was utilizing a false id and didn’t rent him.
Crosby then utilized, as Richard Williams, for a job at a Michigan legislation agency in August 2023. The agency supplied him a wage of $145,000 per yr and a $10,000 signing bonus.
When the agency requested Crosby to offer a display shot of his bar credentials, he despatched one in all an actual legal professional with the same identify. When the agency requested why the identify was totally different, in line with the settlement, Crosby stated he didn’t get alongside along with his father and used his stepfather’s identify.
Because of the discrepancies in Crosby’s credentials, the agency terminated the working relationship earlier than issuing his first paycheck.
In his ultimate try at getting a job, Crosby once more tried his luck in California. In September, he utilized for a job by way of LinkedIn. As soon as he was profitable, he used his new work e-mail handle to ship a accomplice on the agency an IRS Type W-9. He falsely claimed his identify was Chris Miller and that his handle was in Arlington, Va.
The Social Safety quantity he supplied belonged to a useless man from North Carolina. Federal brokers arrested him in October.
Earlier this month, prosecutors filed a movement to revoke Crosby’s bond accusing him of mendacity to the court docket about going to the hospital and receiving medical remedy on the morning of a June listening to — inflicting that listening to to be continued for a number of weeks.
Crosby’s GPS location monitoring, nonetheless, confirmed he was not on the hospital that morning, prosecutors stated within the movement, and solely drove to the car parking zone of a hospital instantly after the listening to.
“In different phrases, the GPS knowledge reveals that Mr. Crosby lied to this Courtroom about being at a hospital on the morning of the listening to, after which later spent a while in a hospital car parking zone in an obvious try to create the looks that he was at a hospital on the day of the listening to, albeit after the listening to and never earlier than,” prosecutors wrote.
As a part of his responsible plea, Crosby has agreed to pay almost $171,000 in restitution to legislation companies he defrauded, in line with the U.S. legal professional’s workplace. The plea settlement features a sentence advice of 37 months in jail. Crosby will likely be sentenced in Cincinnati, though a date has not but been set.
