Florida lawyer headed to prison after bilking government out of $7.2 million to buy luxury mansion

After being tracked down overseas, a Florida lawyer is headed to prison for over eight years after pleading guilty to wire-fraud and identity-theft charges that netted him $7.2 million in government funds.

According to Marketwatch, Don Cisternino, 47, of Chuluota, Florida was facing eviction from his apartment when he came up with a scheme to bilk the U.S. government out of COVID-19 relief funds, that allowed him to then purchase a 12,500-square-foot mansion and a fleet of luxury cars -- before he had to go the lam after his theft was investigated.

The report notes that Cisternino "claimed he had a film and theater production and marketing business that had 441 employees, when in reality it had none."

"Using stolen Social Security numbers, prosecutors say Cisternino made phony claims that his company, MagnifiCo Inc., had a monthly payroll of over $2.8 million. The U.S. government approved him in 2020 for an emergency loan of $7.2 million, prosecutors said," the report continued." Cisternino then used the pandemic aid to purchase the $3.5 million home. He lived in the seven-bedroom mansion, complete with a full movie theater, five-stable horse barn, tennis court, swimming pool and an English-style pub, with his girlfriend."

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After being tracked down in Croatia and returning to the US to face the music, his lawyer excused his theft, "saying his client had made poor decisions due to his addiction to the hyperactivity-disorder drug Adderall and his feelings of inadequacy due to the success of other members of his family."

His lawyer also asserted that Cisternino was above board with his purchases by making them in his own name and not trying to conceal them.

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