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Staff report
The board of commissioners of the Lawyers' fund for Client Protection reimbursed $96,262 to 12 victims of attorney theft at its September meeting, including $2,000 to a past client of former attorney Robert J. Rohrbaugh II of the Youngstown area.
The former client was reimbursed for Rohrbaugh failing to provide the requested services, according to a press release from the Ohio Supreme Court. Rohrbaugh was suspended indefinitely from the practice of law in Ohio on Oct. 29, 2024.
Rohrbaugh had a law office on Belmont Avenue in Liberty and lived in the Youngstown area at the time he and two other men were indicted in federal court on fraud charges. They were accused of cashing and using a $1.3 million IRS check co-defendant Brandon Mace obtained fraudulently while in federal prison.
U.S. District Court Judge Benita Y. Pearson presided over two trials in Youngstown involving Rohrbaugh. In the second one, Rohrbaugh was convicted in January 2023 of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, aiding and abetting theft of government property, aiding and abetting false claims against the United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was sentenced to 52 months in federal prison.
The board also reimbursed $1,500 to a former client of deceased attorney William Kissinger as a result of Kissinger's failure to provide the services requested. Kissinger died March 14, 2023.