Syracuse-Area Attorney Sentenced in $1.4 Million Fraud Scheme

Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, announced today the sentencing of a Syracuse-area attorney.

David Pelland, 62, of Baldwinsville, had pled guilty on May 4, 2010 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The charge relates to Pelland's involvement in a fraud perpetrated by Donald Geiss, Jr. from 2001 to 2007. Geiss was employed as the director of health and safety at Intertek located in Cortland, New York. Geiss submitted vouchers to Intertek for payment on behalf of others who were identified as a medical doctor and certified industrial hygienists. In each case, the persons named in the vouchers were neither doctors nor industrial hygienists. These vouchers sought payment for work that was never done. When Geiss obtained the checks in payment of the fraudulent vouchers, he forged the endorsements and made them payable to David Pelland. The checks were subsequently deposited into Pelland's Interest on Lawyer Account (IOLA) at Solvay Bank. More than $1.4 million was deposited into Pelland's IOLA account in this fashion. As part of the scheme, Pelland sent letters to Intertek in his capacity as an attorney stating that he represented the person falsely identified in the vouchers as a medical doctor. In these letters, Pelland furthered the fraud conspiracy by falsely characterizing this person as a doctor when in fact Pelland knew he was not a doctor and had performed no services for Intertek.

United States District Court Chief Judge Norman A. Mordue sentenced Pelland to 30 months' imprisonment and ordered him to make restitution to Intertek of $1,457,107.00. This restitution order is to be paid jointly and severally by Geiss and Pelland. Pelland has surrendered his license to practice law.

This is Pelland's second felony conviction. In 1994, Pelland was convicted in federal court of concealment of bankruptcy assets. He was sentenced to one year of probation following this conviction.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by AUSA Edward R. Broton.