Staff file photo / Ed Runyan Suspended attorney Robert J. Rohrbaugh II leaves U.S. District Court in Youngstown in January after he was convicted of four fraud charges. The woman is unidentified. Rohrbaugh was sentenced Wednesday to 52 months in prison.

YOUNGSTOWN — Suspended attorney Robert J. Rohrbaugh II called his decision to help a former client with a history of fraud cash a $1.3 million IRS check “one of the dumbest things I have ever done.”

U.S. District Court Judge Benita Y. Pearson on Wednesday then sentenced him to 52 months in prison.

Rohrbaugh, 49, left the courthouse with his family and will be allowed to self-report to prison. He had a law office on Belmont Avenue in Liberty and lived in Canfield. Pearson ordered him to make restitution of $569,938 jointly with his two co-defendants for the loss by the IRS.

He was convicted during a six-day trial in January of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, aiding and abetting theft of government property, aiding and abetting false claims against the U.S. and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The more than three-hour-long hearing included about 90 minutes of debate between the defense and federal prosecutors to zero in on how to state the facts of Rohrbaugh’s crimes in a presentence report, prepared by the U.S. Pretrial and Probation Department.

The report contains information about the defendant’s criminal history and background but also a summary of offenses. It helps the judge in the job of sentencing the individual, but Pearson said it also can be considered Rohrbaugh’s “federal resume” for providing information to others in the federal system, including the prisons. That makes it important that the facts are as accurate as possible, the judge said.

The defense had prepared 10 objections to the presentence report. Most of the requested changes were overruled, but the discussion clarified some points, such as whether Rohrbaugh used his position as a lawyer in furtherance of his crimes.

THE CRIME

Prosecutors have said Rohrbaugh helped co-defendants Brandon Mace of the Youngstown area and Terris Baker of Canton area cash a $1.3 million IRS check that was issued as a result of a bogus business 2015 federal tax return that Mace filed from federal prison, where he was serving a sentence for a similar, earlier crime.

Sam Amendolara, an attorney for Rohrbaugh, argued that things Rohrbaugh did for Mace and Baker, such as incorporating the name of a bogus company Mace used in the enterprise, could have been done by a nonattorney.

After a lengthy discussion, the judge decided that Rohrbaugh did gain benefit in his role from being a lawyer, such as having access to a reputable accountant and being able to talk with credibility to the IRS revenue officer investigating the case.

Another challenge to the wording in the report was that Rohrbaugh was responsible for $2.3 million in theft or attempted theft because he was involved in another Mace scheme to obtain about $1 million from another bogus tax return.

Amendolara noted that the second check “never materialized,” but Megan Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney, said federal law states that a defendant is responsible for the “intended loss” intended by the enterprise, and the judge overruled the objection.

Rohrbaugh’s offenses qualified him for a sentence of about 70 to 87 months, and Miller asked that Rohrbaugh get a sentence on the high end.

ACCEPTS GUILT

When Rohrbaugh spoke to the judge, he said: “I want to be very clear: I completely accept guilt and my role in the charges I have been convicted of.”

He said everything began with Baker walking into his office one day with a check for $1.3 million. “I knew he was associated with Brandon Mace. It should have been enough for me to tell him to leave,” Rohrbaugh said. He knew there was “no way a guy like Brandon Mace … could come across a check from the U.S. government for $1.3 million.”

He said because of his finances, “I rationalized” helping Mace and Baker by saying to himself, “Hey, if the bank cashes that check maybe it’s OK,” he said.

But that rationalization and decision caused “catastrophic changes in my world.” His law license was suspended so he “lost my livelihood,” and he and his wife sold their house to move into a smaller one.

They “sold our furniture, our car,” he said, adding that he and his wife slept on a mattress on the floor. “My decision to break the law destroyed all of our lives,” he said.

“It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Rohrbaugh said of the crimes. “You can call it willful blindness. You can call it whatever you want,” he said.

The judge said Rohrbaugh’s remarks showed that “clearly you have accepted responsibility. The question is what took you so long.”

SENTENCING

Pearson said the sentence she gave Rohrbaugh needed to be “so untasteful that you will never do it again.”

She noted that Rohrbaugh has an alcohol problem and ordered him not to ingest alcohol, saying she thinks his problem “affected his decision making.” She also ordered him to get a mental health assessment, and during three years of supervised release, he will be subject to searches of his person, home and his electronic devices.

She said she was allowing Rohrbaugh to self report to prison because he has been compliant with the conditions of his bond and has had no other criminal cases.

Miller, the lead prosecutor, told the judge that Rohrbaugh was not involved in the initial scheme to defraud the IRS, but once Mace and Baker contacted him with a request that he help them, he “hit the ground running to think about the best ways to get this refund check” and what to do with the money.

Mace and Baker paid Rohrbaugh $150,000, but Rohrbaugh repaid the IRS some of that money when its investigation into the matter began. He also paid income tax on the funds.

Miller said Rohrbaugh’s offenses deserved significant jail time because he knew as well as anyone that Mace was a “liar, a cheat, and a tax cheat” because Rohrbaugh defended Mace in a Mahoning County case involving a $200,000 federal income tax refund. “Four years later, Mr. Rohrbaugh was willing to represent Mr. Mace again,” Miller said.

Miller said Rohrbaugh knew that the federal tax refund was based on a bogus income tax return when Mace and Baker asked him to cash it, but he was “time and time again willing to stick his head in the sand and benefit from Mr. Mace’s misdeeds.”

She said Rohrbaugh also tried to “subvert the (legal) process” and directed his office assistant to contact a woman at the bank where the $1.3 million check was cashed to talk to her about her testimony. “Talk about a lack of respect for the law,” Miller said.

erunyan@vindy.com