Few people would be smiling while leaving a federal courthouse minutes after being sentenced to more than two years in prison.
But few people are like Ralph Crozier, the self-described “maverick” attorney from Seymour who a jury convicted of laundering drug money last September.
Though federal sentencing guidelines in the case advised Chief U.S. District Court Judge Janet C. Hall to send Crozier to prison for at least 87 months, the judge handed down a 30-month term after an emotional, three-hour sentencing at federal court in New Haven.
Minutes after tearfully pleading with Judge Hall for lenience, Crozier, given eight weeks to surrender to federal custody, grinned as he emerged from the courthouse doors and hugged several of his friends and family, then clasped his hands together in prayer as he made his way down the front steps toward Church Street.
Crozier’s lawyer, while vowing to appeal the conviction, called the judge’s sentence “spot on.”
Background
Federal agents raided Crozier’s office and arrested him on charges of conspiracy and attempted money laundering — the “washing” of drug money by pretending it came from legit business —in April 2013.
The feds alleged Crozier had agreed to hide $41,000 in drug money for a former client, Bruce Yazdzik.
The raid came minutes after Crozier had taken $11,000 in cash from Yazdzik’s mother, who was wearing a wire, and had been given the money by DEA agents.
A jury took about a day to find Crozier guilty of both charges.
Click here to read stories about the trial.
On The One Hand…
About 20 of Crozier’s friends and family filled the public gallery behind him during Thursday’s sentencing.
Many of them — clients, other lawyers, his children, even a Seymour police sergeant — had written letters to the judge pleading for probation, saying his life couldn’t be assessed only by his poor judgment in the case before her.
Crozier’s lawyer, Michael Hillis, began his argument by noting his 63-year-old client’s age and citing actuarial tables which say Crozier could expect to live another 19 years or so.
Federal sentencing guidelines called for a at least 87 months, or seven and a quarter years, in jail.
“Any sentence that approaches that is not necessary,” Hillis said.
“What percentage of his life is the correct percentage of his life (for him to be in prison)?” Hillis asked the judge to consider, saying his client’s main fault in the case was wanting to do too much on someone else’s behalf, “for no money.”
“He didn’t receive a dime,” Hillis said. “He didn’t receive a benefit from this.”
“This was a stupid thing, no doubt about it,” he conceded. “Here we are.”
But an 87-month prison sentence would be “almost incomprehensible,” Hillis said.
He told the judge that Crozier’s life is in tatters whether he goes to prison or not because he permanently surrendered his law license and has “no other discernible way” to make money.
In addition, he asked the judge to consider an “exceptional family circumstance” in fashioning her sentence: Crozier cares for a young daughter who has special needs, a fact noted in several letters written on Crozier’s behalf.
Hillis had an employee arrive unannounced at Crozier’s house one day to record a video of Crozier and his daughter.
“The true measure of Ralph Crozier is there,” Hillis said.
He also cited cases in which Crozier had agreed to do legal work for others for little to no money, out of the goodness of his heart.
An alcoholic, Crozier met many of them through Alcoholics Anonymous, his sponsor, Joel DeMarco, told Judge Hall.
“This is the life that Ralph Crozier led,” Hillis said. “Nobody here did as many free things for other people as this guy.”
“That’s character,” Hillis said. “That’s just as much the measure of the man as this case, if not more.”
“I’m Sorry For Being Stupid”
Crozier rose to address Judge Hall by noting his age and his general good nature.
“I always found all my life that I was pretty much a comedian,” he said. “I never thought in all my life that I’d be in front of a federal judge in these circumstances.”
“I want to say to your honor I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
And not just for “getting caught,” as in other cases, Crozier said. “I’m sorry for being stupid.”
He blamed his poor judgment on ego and hubris, saying the ripple effect since hasn’t been like “a pebble in a lake, but a boulder in a pond.”
A woman employed in his office for 25 years lost her job and health insurance, he said while crying. “I destroyed that lady’s life, who was with me for a quarter of a century.”
“I made a mistake, your honor, and I’m sorry,” Crozier said.
On The Other…
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale asked Judge Hall to sentence Crozier to at least six years in prison, saying Crozier made more than one mistake.
For one, he laundered money for Yazdzik in 2011, then agreed to launder more during the DEA sting involving Yazdzik’s mother.
Then he took the stand during his trial and lied about his conduct, Kale said.
“I’m not sure which of these mistakes he’s referring to,” the prosecutor said. “But his conduct is incredibly serious.”
Money laundering is a combination of white-collar crime and drug crime, Kale said, “and contains the worst elements of both.”
“It’s only with the help of people like Ralph Crozier that a drug dealer can enjoy the full benefits of the American Dream,” Kale said, even though such people “poison the community.”
He also took issue with Hillis’ assertion that Crozier didn’t benefit from his crime.
He pointed out Crozier had in 2011 just come off a prior suspension of his law license. The prospect of a cash-up-front customer like Yazdzik was too good to turn away.
“That’s a very good client,” Kale said of Yazdzik. “When that very good client asked Mr. Crozier to help launder money, Mr. Crozier said ‘Yes, sir.’”
He said the judge should make an example of Crozier to deter other lawyers from thinking about doing the same thing, especially since a jury, by returning a conviction, concluded Crozier had lied while testifying at trial.
“He took the stand and perjured himself as an officer of the court,” Kale said in asking for a prison sentence of “at least six years,” if not closer to 87 months.
Judge: “You Just Lost Your Way”
Judge Hall told Crozier that the sentence needed to above all reflect the seriousness of the crime, not make his life hard or ruin it.
While not as bad as physically hurting another person, she said, laundering drug money is still “pretty serious.”
“Because it’s a tool that the government has set upon … as a means to try to stop other crimes that it’s very difficult for them to stop,” she said.
Yazdzik, “no great mastermind,” wouldn’t have known how to make his drug dealing proceeds legitimate without help from Crozier, she said.
That not only broke the law, the judge said, but enabled Yazdzik and others to deal more drugs.
The judge also noted the sophisticated manner in which Crozier laundered the money, for instance, breaking deposits up into amounts of fewer than $10,000 into multiple accounts, lessening the chance of raising red flags with bank officials.
Judge Hall was also troubled by his testimony at trial, saying he could have been charged with perjury for it.
“I don’t know any other way to say it, Mr. Crozier, but I didn’t believe you, and that’s very serious,” she said. “You may go to the grave believing you were telling the truth but I did not credit it.”
But at the same time, the judge noted other circumstances, like the “not very large” amount of money laundered.
The judge also cited the dozens of heartfelt letters written on Crozier’s behalf and his “wonderful” care for his daughter.
While not the sole reason for the 30-month sentence, Judge Hall pointed to them “to the extent some might think my sentence too lenient.”
“Obviously you’re here today because you committed two federal crimes,” the judge said. “And that’s not good.”
“But that isn’t who you are,” she went on, later telling Crozier, “Don’t lose sight of the fact that you’re a better person than this conviction says you are.”
“You like the idea of being able to help people,” Judge Hall said. “You just lost your way.”
The judge then sentenced Crozier to 30 months of prison to be followed by three years of probation.
She gave Crozier eight weeks to surrender so he can undergo physical therapy after having both of his knees replaced recently.
She also ordered Crozier to pay a $25,000 fine and perform 300 hours of community service, and not possess guns.
Reaction
Crozier referred reporters to Hillis after walking out of the courthouse.
The lawyer said he’d be filing an appeal of Crozier’s conviction within two weeks, citing, for one thing, Yazdzik’s testimony during the trial that he’d be willing to lie on the witness stand.
He also said the $11,000 given to Crozier by Yazdzik’s mother wasn’t proof of a crime.
“The money never went anywhere,” Hillis said, noting it was seized by federal agents minutes after Crozier received it. “They jumped the gun. There’s no proof that he would’ve done anything with the money, and there needs to be an overt act.”
Even so, he called Judge Hall’s sentence “spot on.”
“It’s a sentence that only a judge with a lot of experience and a lot of common sense could have given,” Hillis said. “I didn’t want any time… but the sentence was fair in light of the evidence and she should be commended.”
Kale declined comment after the sentencing.
In a press release about an hour later, U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly said Crozier “readily agreed to launder drug money for a narcotics dealer.”
“Money laundering is always a serious offense, but it is all the more serious when committed by an officer of the court,” Daly said. “As attorneys are appropriately held to a higher standard, Crozier’s crimes are particularly troubling. This sentence reflects the seriousness of his offense and proper punishment for a lawyer who used his law license for criminal purposes.”
