Disbarred attorney gets jail

RED BANK - - Jon Steiger, a disbarred local attorney, was sentenced on May 4 to five years in prison as a result of his conviction for theft by deception, a second-degree crime.

Judge Francis P. DeStefano imposed the prison term on Steiger, 57, who had recently resided in Red Bank.

According to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, Steiger, a once-prominent criminal defense attorney in Monmouth and Ocean counties, misappropriated money from 15 different clients between March 2001 and December 6, 2004, the day he surrendered his license to practice law to the New Jersey State Supreme Court, consenting to disbarment. The total amount of money he stole from clients exceeded $160,000, the Prosecutor's Office said.

Since the New Jersey Lawyers Fund for Client Protection has reimbursed Steiger's victims, Judge DeStefano directed the defendant to execute a civil judgment on behalf of the fund in the amount of $160,242 Steiger did not object to the court's directive.

Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin stated, "The prison sentence imposed upon Steiger was fair and in the interests of justice. Steiger's theft from his clients constitutes a gross betrayal and a criminal breach of his duty to represent the clients' interests."