Pair Of Lowlife Lawyers Who Extracted $275K In Cash, Home, Etc. From Criminal Defense Client & Left Him Hung Out To Dry Now Face More Trouble For Thumbing Nose At Court Orders

In Miami, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• Two lawyers who acted so despicably in a South Florida case that they were held in contempt of court and ordered to repay $275,800 in fees to a client, have managed to create more trouble for themselves and even could end up serving time in federal prison.
  
  By thumbing their noses at a federal judge, Peter Mayas, of Miramar and Plantation, and Emmanuel Roy, of New York and South Florida, are now in about as much of a legal mess as trained lawyers can get themselves into in a courtroom.
  
  In the latest twist, a judge found they have attempted to hide assets, lied to the court and tried to thwart him. The judge now recommends that Roy and Mayas face sanctions for their behavior and for wasting the court's time.
  
  The odyssey began when Roy and Mayas — who weren't authorized to practice law in federal court in South Florida — nonetheless represented a defendant, Patrick Coulton, in a criminal case in 2008.
  
  They managed to wring $275,800 worth of cash and property out of Coulton's family for a minimal amount of work they weren't qualified to do, the judge ruled.
  
  Roy even flew to England to personally remove a $23,000 wedding and engagement ring set from the finger of Coulton's wife, Pamela, during a breakfast meeting in London, according to court testimony. Roy gave the rings to his mother-in-law, witnesses testified.
  
  Paul Petruzzi, the Miami lawyer appointed by the court to take over Coulton's representation in August 2010 after Roy and Mayas abandoned him in prison, said the case wasn't about making money for him — it was about trying to ensure justice was done.
  
  "Guys like Roy and Mayas are the reason people hate lawyers," Petruzzi said, saying the case turned into a personal mission for him.
  
  Petruzzi said he doesn't plan to accept any payment for the 2 1/2 years of work he put into the case.
  
  "When Coulton's wife told me how it felt to be robbed by the lawyer she hired to represent her husband — to lose her home, her rings, her vehicle, only to have him abandoned in prison — that's when it stopped being about just getting the money back for her," Petruzzi said.
  
  When Roy and Mayas had extracted as many valuables as possible from the Coultons — including their Coconut Creek townhome, a Porsche Cayenne, more jewelry and tens of thousands of dollars in cash — they helped him plead guilty, handled his sentencing and then ditched him in prison, U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff ruled in September 2011.
  
  The judge issued a scorching 33-page ruling, found Roy, 45, and Mayas, 48, in contempt of court and called their conduct "disgusting, abhorrent" and the "most outrageous" he'd seen in 25 years on the bench.

For more, see Rogue lawyers owe client more than $300,000, may face perjury charge and prison.