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Office of the District Attorney P. David Soares Sentencing of Leonard Berl ALBANY, NY – District Attorney P. David Soares today announced the sentencing of Leonard Berl, 43, of South Loudon Heights Road in Loudonville for guilty pleas to one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony; one count of Insurance Fraud in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony; and one count of Falsifying Business Record in the First Degree, a Class E Felony. The Indictment alleges that the defendant, between July 15 and July 22, 1999 falsely claimed to perform a series of dental procedures. In many cases Mr. Berl claimed to perform a procedure called a “deep pocket cleaning”. While dental professionals report that this complex procedure requires a two hour effort, Mr. Berl routinely claimed to perform the procedure in fifteen minutes. Additionally, Mr. Berl performed poor quality work on a large number of patients. Although the guilty plea was in reference to a single patient, the financial penalty to be paid by Mr. Berl will be shared by 36 complainants cited in the 22 count indictment. In exchange for the guilty pleas, Mr. Berl gave up his license to practice dentistry in the State of New York, has been placed on felony probation for five years, and has paid restitution in the amount of $96, 996.60, fully repaying the victims of his fraudulent work. Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Mariani was pleased with the result. “In this business, we often get the guilty to pay, but it very rare that we get an opportunity to repair the damage to the victims. Here we got 100% of the money back that the victims cited in the indictments paid for these fraudulent services. We also have caused Mr. Berl to give up his right to practice dentistry in New York State for as long as the law allows.” She said. Ms. Mariani added, “Also, if he violates the terms of his probation resulting from his guilty pleas, Mr. Berl faces 2 1/3 to seven years in jail.” Back to Press Releases For further information contact: Richard Arthur
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