YOUNGSTOWN — Anthony J. Fusco, 34, of Cascade Drive, Boardman, whose law license is suspended, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Fusco pleaded guilty in August to insurance fraud for forging documents related to client medical bills in order to obtain money. The clients in whose name the charges were billed did not know about the fraud, prosecutors have said, saying Fusco committed about $800,000 of insurance fraud.
Judge Anthony D’Apolito handed down the sentence Friday, according to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court documents. It was the sentence recommended by prosecutors. Fusco could have gotten as many as three years behind bars.
According to Fusco’s indictment, from about March 1, 2017, through about Sept. 30, 2019, Fusco presented false claims to one or more insurance companies.
According to the Ohio Supreme Court, Fusco was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio on Nov. 16, 2015.
Jennifer Paris, assistant county prosecutor, said at Fusco’s plea hearing in August that prosecutors will not oppose Fusco getting judicial release, which is an early release from prison approved by the judge. If Fusco is granted judicial release, prosecutors will ask for Fusco to be placed on five years of community control, sometimes known as probation.
The Ohio Supreme Court suspended Fusco’s law license last month because of his guilty plea to insurance fraud, a felony offense. His license was suspended “for an interim period,” effective immediately, the court ordered.
The matter also is referred to disciplinary counsel for an investigation and the start of disciplinary proceedings, the order states.
The suspension was ordered after the Supreme Court was notified Sept. 16 of Fusco’s felony conviction. Fusco remained free after his plea hearing.
His law license was inactive at the time of his guilty plea, according to online Ohio Supreme Court records. That meant he was not allowed to practice law in Ohio or hold himself out as authorized to practice law in Ohio.