Queens Lawyer Who Spent 30 days in Jail for Raiding Late Judge's Estate Thrown Back in Jail

Frank Racano

A Queens lawyer who spent 30 days in jail under a civil order for digging into the estate of the late Judge John Phillips was thrown back behind bars on Wednesday after Brooklyn prosecutors indicted him for the same crime.

 When the legendary Bedford-Stuyvesant Slave Theater and an adjacent lot sold at auction for $2.2 million in 2012, the executor of the estate Samuel Boykin and Frank Racano were to report to a surrogates court judge where the money would go.

 After several unanswered requests, the judge removed Boykin as the executor and held them both in contempt of court. In March, the Daily News reported, Racano was brought into Brooklyn Civil Supreme Court by city sheriffs where he admitted to selfishly writing over 300 checks to himself from the estate’s escrow account to pay bills.

Judge John L. Phillips

“The money disappeared, the account whittled down to $100 last year May,” said Assistant District Attorney Frank Dutis in court. Racano stole $587,160.56, prosecutors said.

 The judge sentenced Racano to 30 days in jail and gave him a $1,000 fine.

With Racano’s admission in civil court, prosecutors indicted him for one-count of second-degree grand larceny. “We will now hold him accountable for these shameful criminal acts,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson.

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 Queens Lawyer Who Spent 30 Days in Jail for Raiding Late Judge's Estate Thrown Back in Jail

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