Cohen

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A former Blair County attorney was sentenced Friday in one case and pleaded guilty in two others in Blair County court for a sentence that includes paying $160,000 in restitution.

Michael B. Cohen, 42, faced three separate cases in Blair County related to his law practice that ended in April 2023 with his disbarment with consent by a state disciplinary board.

In the first case, Cohen pleaded no contest to a felony count of tampering with public records and single misdemeanor counts of hindering apprehension, tampering with evidence and obstructing the administration of law enforcement.

He was sentenced to six to 23.5 months’ incarceration, to be followed by five years’ probation. Defense attorney Daniel Kiss told presiding Senior Judge Pamela A. Ruest that Cohen remains out of prison awaiting a reporting date for a sentence handed down in November in federal court. In that case, he was sentenced to 15 months’ incarceration, followed by two years’ probation, for two felony counts of forgery.

Kiss asked Ruest to run Cohen’s Blair County sentence concurrently with his federal sentence, and she agreed.

Cohen’s charges in Blair County developed after he attempted to get a client’s charges dismissed by Magisterial District Judge Benjamin F. Jones for violating a protection-from-abuse order. Cohen attempted to defend his client by saying he was allowed to be at the residence based on a court order signed March 14. Further investigation revealed Cohen secured the order on March 15 from then county Judge Ilissa Zimmerman.

In a second case, Cohen pleaded guilty to two felony counts of theft, one by false impression and one by failure to make the required disposition of funds, thereby costing a client their home.

Cohen was again sentenced to six to 23.5 months’ incarceration, to be followed by five years’ probation, also to run concurrently with his sentences in the first case and his federal case. While incarcerated, he is eligible for work release.

Ruest also ordered Cohen to pay the victims $160,000 in restitution, starting with $1,000 on Friday, $5,000 within 30 days and $500 a month until the restitution is paid in full, as outlined in the plea agreement.

The victim in the case reported noticing the mortgage was not being paid on his home, and said it was valued at about $444,800, when the mortgage company notified him of a possible foreclosure. He and his wife sent mortgage payments to Cohen to deposit on their behalf, starting in 2018, But their house was sold as part of a sheriff’s sale in early 2023.

The victims in the two cases chose to not be present and did not prepare impact statements, according to Blair County First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith.

When given the opportunity to speak on the cases, Cohen described his actions as “horrific” and said he was ashamed.

“I live in remorse every day,” Cohen said. “I’m taking this plea to take full responsibility.”

Cohen told Ruest he could have asked for help when he was in pain but “instead, I kicked the can down the road” and ended up hurting people, including his family.

Friday’s hearing also addressed Cohen’s scheduled sentencing in his third Blair County case, in which he pleaded guilty to a single count of forgery.

Before that sentence was imposed, the victim’s husband read a statement and made it clear that they opposed the negotiated plea.

“We’ve had no say in this plea and would not have agreed to it,” he said.

He told Ruest that his wife had been gagged from talking about Cohen and the case in which Cohen created a fake custody order.

The fake custody order allowed a child’s mother — the man’s wife — to assume primary custody and transport the child from Fayette County to Blair County in December 2022.

The child’s father had primary custody while the mother had limited rights for transporting the child to Blair County based on the existing custody order.

The child’s father, who expected to exchange custody with the child’s mother on Jan. 1, initially went to police, then filed a petition with the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas, accusing the mother of violating custody arrangements.

In his statement, the man said his wife trusted Cohen and “from the start, (Cohen) lied about everything.”

He said Cohen repeatedly gave them false hope about reuniting with the child, and he told them about how he was in contact with various judges and grand juries.

The man said his wife had been punished “over and over” while Cohen was given a “slap on the wrist” with the plea deal.

“She still feels like she is screaming underwater for help,” he said.

When the man finished, Kiss addressed his comments, saying Cohen didn’t have anything to do with certain aspects of the custody case in Fayette County that were referenced.

“He’s taken responsibility and said he did do that charge,” Kiss said.

Cohen also addressed the statement, acknowledging that he gave the couple false hope and “it sickens me.”

“They relied on me to take on something big,” Cohen said. “And I was already not functioning as an attorney.”

He then turned to apologize to the victims, before telling Ruest he hoped the sentencing could bring them peace and finality.

Ruest sentenced Cohen to one month to three years incarceration, to run concurrently with his first two sentences and federal sentence. He was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

Before adjourning the hearing, Ruest told the victims that she was required to follow sentencing guidelines and she therefore felt her sentence was appropriate.

In Bedford County, Cohen was sentenced by Senior Judge Patrick T. Kiniry in late October to five years’ probation after pleading guilty to a felony count of failure to make required disposition of funds. He was also ordered to spend the first six months of his probation on house arrest and pay $10,000 in restitution to the victim.

The victim in the Bedford case chose Cohen as his attorney for a property issue in 2022 and gave him $60,000 toward resolving the problem. Cohen then deposited $50,000 into a different bank, leaving $10,000 “unaccounted for.”

The victim subsequently lost his home and possessions.

Cohen’s sentence handed down in federal court followed guilty pleas to forgery charges, in which he admitted to creating two separate documents in 2022, both showing the false signature of Matthew Brann, chief judge of the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

In that case, US District Judge Stephanie Haines indicated that the Federal Bureau of Prisons would designate a reporting date and location. Haines indicated in her sentence that the bureau could consider incarcerating Cohen at its Loretto facility, as Kiss requested to keep his client closer to family.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.