Ex-lawyer gets no help from wife at sentencing

Fear of dying in poverty might have prompted the wife of a larcenous former lawyer to turn her back on her husband - and his embezzlement victims.

At least that was the theory offered yesterday by lawyer John J. Duffy, who represents Ralph E. Mirarchi, 70, of Berwyn, who was sentenced to 61 to 122 months in prison on theft and forgery charges.

"She's looking out for No. 1," Duffy said of Dorothy Mirarchi, 68, of Avalon.

In April 2008, she agreed to a proposal that would have enabled her to keep $500,000 after transferring the rest of her assets to the victims, one of whom was left virtually penniless.

Chester County Judge Thomas G. Gavin said he was willing to reduce Ralph Mirarchi's jail term commensurate with any restitution the victims received.

Duffy said a tearful Dorothy Mirarchi begged him several months ago to represent her husband of 47 years. Now, since hiring a New Jersey law firm to represent her, she refuses to return phone calls, Duffy said, adding that his client thinks his wife is afraid of ending up like an aunt "who died destitute."

Calls to Dorothy Mirarchi and Andrew J. Karcich, identified in court as her attorney, were not returned.

Prosecutor Thomas Ost-Prisco suggested that the half-million dollars the victims were willing to set aside for Dorothy Mirarchi would have precluded her bankruptcy. However, that money might not have subsidized the luxury cars and high-rolling casino status to which she was accustomed, he said.

"Their lifestyle was supported by ill-gotten funds," said Ost-Prisco, adding that the victims would have received only about 30 cents on the dollar.

He said Ralph Mirarchi, whose practice was Mirarchi Law Associates in Tredyffrin Township, stole more than $3 million from his clients, and potential victims are still coming forward.

"Nobody's going to win today - except perhaps your wife," Gavin told the defendant.

Yesterday's proceeding marked the second sentencing for Ralph Mirarchi. In July, Gavin ordered him to spend 41/4 to 81/2 years in prison, but the sentence was vacated because Mirarchi was not made eligible for a new state program.

Gavin said he felt strongly that Mirarchi's "breach of trust" justified a minimum of 51 months behind bars, and so he adjusted the sentence upward to compensate for the 10-month reduction Mirarchi could receive under the Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive program.

Mirarchi, wearing a baggy gray suit, shuffled out of the courtroom with his head down, avoiding eye contact with the two victims who attended the hearing.

One of them, Paul Pezzotti Sr., 77, a longtime landscaper who lost his retirement savings, said he wished Dorothy Mirarchi could be persuaded to make good on her promise.

"There's a moral obligation here," Ost-Prisco said. "It pains me that Mr. Pezzotti . . . has had to go back to work," considering his many health problems.