Disbarred Warren County attorney pleads guilty to Social Security number fraud

Daniel Susco, Journal-News, Hamilton, Ohio
·2 min read

Jul. 15—A disbarred Warren County attorney has pleaded guilty to Social Security number fraud as part of a scheme to get jobs at law firms.

Richard Louis Crosby III, 37, of Mason pleaded guilty as part of an agreement in federal court to three counts of Social Security Number fraud, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio. The agreement includes a recommended sentenced of 37 months in prison, and an agreement for Crosby to pay nearly $171,000 in restitution to law firms he defrauded.

According to court documents, Crosby's scheme began after first having a complaint filed against him by the Cincinnati Bar Association in November 2020, followed by him saying he would resign from practicing law in April 2021. Then, in June and November 2021, Crosby was indicted and charged in Hamilton County with crimes related to stealing client funds, after which he was disbarred by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Crosby was arrested on the Hamilton County cases in May 2022, then sentenced to probation in June 2023.

While those cases were pending, though, Crosby created an email account called "richardcwilliamsesq" and came up with the alias of Richard Williams.

In total, the U.S. Attorney's Office said that in 2022 and 2023 Crosby used this fake identity to apply for jobs with seven law firms in Washington D.C., California, Michigan and Florida, five of which offered him positions.

The attorney's office said that Crosby used identifying information, including social security numbers, belonging to his elderly father, his girlfriend, a dead man from North Carolina and others, and also told at least one law firm that he was a University of Michigan football player and an ex-Marine.

Crosby was ultimately arrested by federal agents in October 2023.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said that the case was investigated by the Social Security Administration and Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services, U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service and United States Marshals Service.