Phony lawyer faces additional prison

A Newport Beach man faces additional time in federal prison for his persistence in tricking people into believing he’s a lawyer, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Harold Goldstein, 64, was released from federal prison May 1 after serving a portion of his seven-year sentence and put on supervised probation. Goldstein had been convicted of mail fraud and making false declarations under oath that he was a lawyer, at one point stealing the identity of a Northern California attorney.

Prosecutors claim that just one month after his probationary release, Goldstein was at it again.

Authorities claim on June 1, Goldstein placed an ad on Craigslist where he represented himself as a lawyer interested in contracting with another lawyer for in-court legal work.

Goldstein asked anyone interested to send him their business cards and letterhead to boot, officials said.

If convicted of violating his probation, Goldstein faces up to two more years in prison.

— Joseph Serna