NY Lawyer Sues NY Judge On $500,000.00 Loan

Lawyer suit: Judge owes me half-mil

The New York Post by William J. Gorta and Liz Sadler - April 29, 2010

A Bronx judge accused of having a chronic gambling problem borrowed a half-million dollars from a law- school class mate, telling her that loan sharks would break his legs and hurt his children if she didn't help him, according to court papers. George Villegas, who was elected to state Supreme Court in 2007, was mired in a "vicious cycle of gambling and borrowing money" from lawyer Janet Cohen between January 1988 and December 2006, she alleges in a suit. "Defendant periodically called plaintiff to inform her that loan sharks would soon 'break my legs' and 'hurt my children' if she did not give him money," the suit says. "Defendant borrowed over $500,000 from plaintiff to pay for and subsidize his chronic gambling." The suit, filed in Queens Supreme Court last Friday, said Cohen had inherited approximately $1.5 million between 1988 and 1998 from deceased family members, including her mother and two aunts. Only the first page of the complaint was available at the County Clerk's Office, so the bulk of her demands are unknown. Cohen, 57, declined an opportunity to fill in the gaps. "I don't know if I'm quite ready yet," Cohen said when asked if she would comment. "I didn't anticipate this so suddenly." But she made a point of identifying the man she is suing. "Do you know who he is?" Cohen asked before confirming Villegas' identity to The Post. Pressed outside her Forest Hills home for more details, she said, "No, not right now. I don't want to talk about it," before walking off with her cat. The suit also says that in December 2006, Villegas gave Cohen a promissory note for the $500,000, vowing to pay off the debt in 30 years. Villegas and Cohen both attended law school at SUNY Buffalo. He graduated in 1987 and was admitted to the bar in 1991. Cohen was admitted to the bar in 1988. Villegas, 57, was knocked by the New York City Bar Association when he was running for the Supreme Court as not having the "requisite qualifications." As a Criminal Court judge, Villegas sent rapper DMX to jail for seven days for driving with a suspended license, calling the notoriously bad driver "a violation waiting to happen." A woman who answered the phone in Villegas' chambers in Bronx Supreme Court said the jurist was on the bench yesterday afternoon, but the courtroom was empty when The Post visited. william.gorta@nypost.com