A former manager at a major law firm has been sentenced to a prison term of more than three years after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in company money on items including designer clothing, electronics and scented candles.
Support our journalism. Subscribe today. arrow-right
“I’m deeply sorry for my terrible actions in this case,” Andrew Robertson, 54, said in a virtual sentencing hearing in D.C. federal court Monday. “The company trusted me, and I betrayed that trust.”
Robertson was the D.C. office operations manager for the firm Morrison & Foerster from early 2017 to late 2018, according to court and public records. During that time he admits he spent $425,000 on personal luxuries that he disguised as office expenses. The items ranged from a $40 “80s Prom King” costume to an $800 diamond-encrusted pinkie ring, according to court records, and included dozens of sneakers, sweaters and candles.
Advertisement
Story continues below advertisement
“It’s really difficult to fathom what motivated this crime aside from greed and a desire to have nice things,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy told the court. Robertson made more than $100,000 a year and was not struggling to support himself or his family, she said; there is no evidence that he had issues with substance abuse.
It was not the first time he committed this type of crime. A decade ago, while working for Warner Media in New York, Robertson embezzled $700,000, Rakoczy noted. He served two years in prison, and was still on parole when he committed the new fraud.
Robertson kept that history from Morrison & Foerster by applying for his job with a fake Social Security number and other doctored paperwork, according to prosecutors.
Story continues below advertisement
“It doesn’t seem to have had any effect whatsoever on him,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said of the prior conviction. She sentenced Robertson to 41 months behind bars, followed by 36 months of supervised release.
Advertisement
“You can’t keep doing this,” the judge told him. “I want you to give some careful thought as to why you’re getting involved” in fraud.
Robertson’s public defender, David Bos, could not offer much explanation for the crime.
“To this day he doesn’t really have a full answer,” Bos told the court, but added that clinical depression and childhood trauma “did play a role.”
Robertson told the court he is now getting treatment for a “black cloud” that has been hanging over him his whole life — “I just suppressed a lot of things.”
Story continues below advertisement
The firm, Rakoczy said, had to hire a forensic accountant to untangle the fraud and figure out whether any clients’ funds were implicated — ultimately determining that they were not. Robertson is not being asked to pay restitution because insurance covered most of the damage, but he must forfeit the value of the stolen goods.
Morrison & Foerster did not immediately return a request for comment.
She started sharing her dating life on TikTok. She ended up in jail.
D.C. appeals court halts covid-related release of convicted rapist
Get the vaccine or get fired? Some nurses choose termination