Expresso Secrets
The Colorado Presiding Disciplinary Judge reciprocally disbarred an attorney sanctioned in Illinois
This reciprocal discipline case arose out of discipline imposed on DeFranco by the Supreme Court of Illinois. That tribunal disbarred DeFranco on March 19, 2024, after a review board recommended the sanction. The recommendation was premised on the board’s finding that DeFranco dishonestly converted client funds for his own use and borrowed money from another client without complying with the required safeguards to protect that client’s interests.. DeFranco’s Illinois case number is 2022PR00040.
DeFranco thus engaged in conduct constituting grounds for reciprocal discipline under C.R.C.P. 242.21, which calls for imposition of the same discipline as that imposed in Illinois.
The Chicago Tribune reported
A DuPage County lawyer has been charged with stealing his former girlfriend’s identity to buy a German performance sedan and to acquire loans that he used to prop up his nut butter business, according to court records.
Leonard S. DeFranco, 65, was named in a 46-count felony indictment Friday in DuPage County, alleging forgery, identity theft, financial institution fraud and operating a continuing financial crimes enterprise. He surrendered to authorities, posted bond and was released Saturday, according to court files.
Authorities say he acquired the personal information of a woman he was dating, and over the course of two years and without the woman’s knowledge, took out more than $80,000 in loans in her name, Assistant State’s Attorney Ken Tatarelis said Monday.
The largest single loan was for a 2013 Audi A8 sedan, which, authorities said, DeFranco purchased in 2016 for $43,500. He bought the car via a loan taken out in the girlfriend’s name, and forged a document transferring the car into his name, according to court files.
In addition, DeFranco fraudulently obtained almost $40,000 in loans and via a line of credit, files say. Much of that money was funneled into Futter’s Nut Butters, a business DeFranco operated in addition to his law practice, the prosecutor said
Secretary of state business records give a Hoffman Estates address for Futter’s Nut Butters and show DeFranco as the company president. Tatarelis said DeFranco and the woman had been in a long-term dating relationship. She filed for an order of protection Friday against DeFranco, although the woman did not allege any physical battery against DeFranco, only the financial crimes.
In her application for the order, the woman, 63, said in August 2017 that she received a notice from a credit company that the car loan had been taken out in her name. As she began looking into her credit history, the woman said she found other loans taken out in her name, and she reported it to authorities.
DeFranco has a law practice in Oakbrook Terrace, which according to his website, specializes in estate planning, tax issues and real estate. In addition to the nut butter business, DeFranco owns a company that manufactures a chocolate sold under the name DeFranco’s Espresso Secrets, the website said.
James Grogan, spokesperson for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, said Monday that the commission was aware of the charges and was monitoring the situation. According to commission records, DeFranco’s law license was suspended for 30 days in 2008 for charging what the commission said were excessive fees in two estate cases.
Calls placed to DeFranco and his attorney were not immediately returned.
(Mike Frisch)