Man who posed as lawyer will get close-up look at inner workings of state prison system

David Koraca, a.k.a. David Corazza, was sentenced to two to three years in prison after admitting he bilked clients who thought they were hiring "a Harvard-educated attorney" who, in fact, only took classes at the Harvard Extension School - where he bilked classmates out of thousands of dollars - the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Koraca pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday to six counts of unauthorized practice of law, four counts of attempting to commit a crime, three counts of larceny over $250 by scheme and single counts of larceny over $250, common law forgery and common-law uttering.

Koraca, who rented an office in one of International Place's towers, passed himself off as not just a Harvard Law grad, but a childhood friend of Mark Walhberg and his personal attorney, an Army captain and Silver Star recipient, and a specialist in legal cases involving the recovery of artwork stolen by the Nazi regime.

According to the DA's office:

In February of 2015, Koraca offered to help a fellow classmate at the Harvard University School of Continuing Education with her credit problems. However, rather than negotiating down the victim’s debts as agreed, Koraca used one of the victim’s credit cards to make purchases totaling more than $1,000 and forged her digital signature in an attempt to use the card to pay rent for his office.

In May 2015, Koraca hired a Harvard Extension School classmate as an employee of his financial services company, Corazza Global. After joining the company, the woman enlisted Koraca’s legal help in divorce proceedings and paid him $6,900 in fees. Koraca, however, performed no work on her behalf.

The victim wired Koraca a $5,000 loan to help pay rent for the company’s office space, which Koraca never repaid. The victim later discovered that her paychecks from the company had bounced and that Koraca had charged more than $19,600 to her accounts without her knowledge or consent. Those expenses included a gym membership, office rent, and extended stays at the Harvard Club in New York, prosecutors said.

Another victim performed work in 2015 as a legal intern for Koraca’s law office, unaware that Koraca was not allowed to practice law. The victim left the company after Koraca refused to pay him for the billable legal services he performed.