Queens Defenders officially had its criminal defense practice taken over by a Brooklyn-based legal services provider on Tuesday, around three weeks after its former executive director was arrested on federal fraud charges.
Brooklyn Defender Services officially assumed the responsibility of carrying out a city contract — previously held by Queens Defenders — to provide criminal defense for indigent clients, hiring all of the Queens organization’s criminal defense attorneys and support staff last week.
The transition of the approximately 16,000 new cases per year has been underway since late March, when the city suggested it no longer trusted the embattled Queens organization to carry out the $32 million contract to provide criminal defense to low-income New Yorkers in the World’s Borough. Although Queens Defenders’ former executive director, Lori Zeno, had not been charged with fraud at the time, she was booted from the organization by Queens Defenders’ board of directors after they received a number of complaints about her conduct.
With the transition now complete, Brooklyn Defender Services will operate out of Queens Defenders’ existing office space on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills and in Jamaica.
All of the attorneys previously working in the criminal and adolescent practices at Queens Defenders have been hired by Brooklyn Defenders, according to the Brooklyn organization.
“After 29 years of experience and expertise serving Brooklyn, we are proud to bring the same dedication and excellence to Queens residents,” Lisa Schreibersdorf, the executive director and founder of Brooklyn Defender Services, said in a statement. “We will continue in our mission to provide outstanding representation and advocacy free of cost to people facing loss of freedom, family separation and other serious legal harms.”
“Despite many challenges over the past year, the staff in Queens have remained deeply committed to their clients and their work,” she added. “We are proud to welcome this team of hardworking, skilled and mission-driven attorneys and support staff.”
Queens Defenders’ troubles began to emerge in January when Zeno was put on leave by the organization’s board of directors.
Though they didn’t specify the reasons behind her then-temporary dismissal, the organization’s board chair directed staff with complaints to reach out to the New York attorney general’s whistleblower office, which fields information from insiders “with sensitive information about misdeeds by their employer.” Zeno was also barred from entering into any of Queens Defenders’ offices.
“As a result of information received by the Board of Queens Defenders, Lori Zeno has been placed on leave effective immediately and is not allowed on any Queens Defenders property,” Doneath Powell, the board chair, said in the email obtained by the Eagle in January.
By March, the city had decided to sever its contract for criminal defense with Queens Defenders and began moving the work over to Brooklyn Defender Services.
Though the city did not say if the move was related to Zeno’s dismissal, a spokesperson for MOCJ said the agency was “taking a proactive approach with the Queens Defenders in order to ensure stability and minimize disruptions to the attorneys and cases involved.”
“Separately, we have initiated a financial and operational review after identifying red flags during our routine oversight, and we will take any action appropriate upon conclusion of the investigation,” the spokesperson said at the time.
Last Tuesday, a spokesperson for MOCJ said that the city was “grateful for Brooklyn Defenders’ management and for the cooperation of the defense attorneys in Queens who have successfully transitioned to new leadership, ensuring there was no disruption in services and that their clients will continue to receive excellent representation.”
The severed contract was likely related to the fraud charges brought against Zeno in June.
Federal prosecutors allege that Zeno and her husband, Rashad Ruhani, stole tens of thousands of dollars from the organization, which is primarily funded by taxpayer dollars.
According to the charges, Zeno and her husband used a credit card issued to the organization to fund a luxury vacation to Bali, a teeth-whitening procedure, a night at a high-end steakhouse and other personal purchases.
Prosecutors also say the pair lied to their co-workers, asking for reimbursements on personal expenses, like rent on their $6,000-a-month penthouse apartment, while claiming the charges were business expenses.
The couple allegedly attempted to cover up the fraud by hiring two people close to them to work as Zeno’s executive assistants and submit fake expense reports, prosecutors said. The workers were officially brought on to serve in non-existent positions with little to no responsibilities, a court document alleges. One of the employees brought on to help with the cover-up, Ureka Washington, was Ruhani’s legal wife — prosecutors claim Zeno and Ruhani were married in a religious ceremony not recognized by the state.
Zeno pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges last month and will next appear in court in September.
In March, Zeno, who was believed at the time to be under federal investigation, told the Eagle that she had “every bit of proof that I need, about every single allegation that was made” ahead of her ouster from Queens Defenders.
Zeno, who helped found the organization around 30 years ago, took home $434,791 in 2023, the highest salary among all executive directors of major public defender groups in the city.
