Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York | Department of Justice
Christopher Reese, also known as Christopher Eugene Thomas, was sentenced to 16.5 years in prison for operating an unlicensed legal services business that defrauded inmates and their families. The announcement was made by Jay Clayton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Reese, who has nine prior felony convictions and is not a licensed attorney, promised to secure favorable outcomes in criminal cases for inmates in exchange for large fees. He drafted and filed motions in federal courts without proper authorization. Despite his assurances that he could help get inmates released from prison, most of his motions were denied by the courts while he kept the payments.
He received a 15-year sentence following his conviction at trial earlier this year, with an additional 18 months added for violating supervised release terms from a previous case. U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni imposed the sentence.
“Christopher Reese conned vulnerable people by promising them outcomes in legal cases that he could not deliver and tried to manipulate the federal courts to further his scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Today’s substantial sentence is a clear reminder: the fraudulent and unauthorized practice of law is a crime. The public should be on guard against so-called ‘independent paralegals’ or ‘legal assistants’ selling services that only licensed lawyers can provide, without supervision by a licensed lawyer. Unlicensed practitioners may seem like a bargain, but often leave their clients in far worse circumstances.”
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Reese posed as a “legal assistant” or “paralegal” but worked independently without oversight from any licensed attorney. He offered services such as drafting and submitting legal filings—actions permitted only for lawyers—and targeted prisoners and their families with promises of immediate release or other favorable results.
Reese sometimes claimed he would refund money if unsuccessful but did not return funds when his efforts failed. To hide his involvement from federal courts—including those at 40 Foley Square in Manhattan—he signed filings using inmates’ names and marked them as “pro se,” implying they were prepared by the defendants themselves.
During much of this scheme, Reese was under supervised release related to another federal case in the same district. He also made false statements to probation officers to avoid paying restitution owed from previous convictions and laundered proceeds through financial transactions involving a co-conspirator.
In total, Reese earned over $1 million through these activities. In addition to prison time, he was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1 million in forfeiture.
Jay Clayton commended the investigative work carried out by Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josiah Pertz, Kingdar Prussien, and James McMahon from the White Plains Division.
