A disbarred lawyer accused of stealing $175,000 from a Shelton developer will face up to four years in prison after taking a plea deal in the case.
Benson Snaider, 75, of Stratford, pleaded guilty before Judge Frank Iannotti July 23 to a single count of first-degree larceny.
Judge Iannotti had offered Snaider the deal last month — technically a 10-year prison sentence to be suspended after a maximum of four years, with Snaider’s lawyer given a chance to argue for less or no jail time.
Judge Iannotti continued the case to Oct. 25 for sentencing.
Snaider’s lawyer, Ira Grudberg, has said he hopes the judge won’t hand down the four-year sentence, but also isn’t very optimistic his client would be spared jail altogether.
Snaider was arrested by Shelton police last November on a single count of first-degree larceny after an investigation that spanned nearly a year.
The allegations against Snaider, a once-prominent New Haven attorney known for his handling of eminent domain cases, date back to 2006, when Shelton developer Adam Zuckerman sold a parcel of land off River Road where the Crescent Village condominium complex now stands.
During the sale, the City of Shelton took a nearby parcel from Zuckerman’s company through eminent domain, with Snaider representing Zuckerman’s company.
During that process, $175,000 was deposited into a Superior Court trust account in May 2007.
But the money never made it into the Zuckermans’ hands, according to an affidavit supporting Snaider’s arrest — instead, he told his clients that they could not have it because the case was pending.
Then, in November 2011, the Zuckermans saw a newspaper article saying that Snaider had been charged with stealing $800,000 from a Stamford car dealership in another eminent domain case — Snaider would eventually take a plea deal in that matter and receive a five-year suspended prison sentence with probation.
Upon seeing the news article, Jonathan Zuckerman immediately called Snaider, who confessed he had spent the money himself, the affidavit says.
Jonathan Zuckerman then went to the Shelton police station to make a complaint, according to the affidavit.
Snaider had resigned from the bar 22 days before his arrest by Shelton police.
Edmund Collier, a Milford lawyer representing the Zuckermans, said last month that his clients just want their money back, if not through restitution in the criminal case then with a claim to the Judicial Branch’s Client Security Fund.
“Our position is that since he’s not financially in a position to make restitution, we would just like to case over as quickly as possible, because once there’s a guilty finding then we can pursue a claim,” he said.
Snaider can’t reapply to practice law for 12 years.
The judge who imposed the sanction said Snaider “poses a substantial threat of harm to any prospective client.”
Snaider has since appealed that punishment.
