Federal sting leads to sentence

Woman, 57, helped lawyer Koslow launder $220,000

The Delray Beach woman who helped prominent lawyer Alan Koslow launder money in an FBI sting was sentenced Thursday to house arrest and probation for her role in the crime.

Susan Mohr, 57, pleaded guilty to a federal money-laundering conspiracy charge earlier this year. The judge sentenced her to one year of house arrest and five years of probation and ordered her to pay $8,500 in restitution.

Koslow recruited Mohr, a four-time cancer survivor he met while both were fundraising for cancer charities, to help him disguise the source of money he thought came from drug dealers and illegal gambling, the defense said.

The case was actually an undercover

FBI sting that targeted Koslow.

Mohr told the judge Thursday that she was “in financial desperation” when she agreed to help Koslow by moving money through her business account in late 2012 and 2013.

Mohr, who ran a small gifts business, said she needed money to pay for medications and treatment for her cancer and other health problems.

“I truly am sorry for what I did and it will never happen again,” Mohr told U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas on Thursday during her sentencing hearing in federal court.

In a letter she wrote to the judge, Mohr said Koslow “represented me in some legal matters, so I have to say I trusted him as a friend and lawyer. I never really second-guessed him but I also wasn’t thinking with clarity at that time.”

Koslow, 62, formerly of Hollywood and Boca Raton, was one of the most prominent lawyers and lobbyists

“Prison is not a place that anybody wants to be, particularly if you have medical problems.” Judge William Dimitrouleas

in South Florida before he was charged and pleaded guilty to a $220,000 moneylaundering conspiracy earlier this year.

Koslow worked for the powerhouse law firm of Becker and Poliakoff and specialized in gaming, casino, government and land development law. He resigned and was disbarred when the criminal charges were filed against him.

Koslow, 62, is currently serving his prison term in the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami. He was sentenced to a year and a day. With standard time off for good behavior, he is expected to serve about 10 ½ months and is scheduled for release on Sept. 23.

The prosecution and defense both urged the judge to give Mohr a lighter punishment than Koslow, partly because she played a lesser role in the crime. They also said her multiple health issues would pose serious problems for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and that she would not receive the standard of care in prison that she needs.

The judge said he had some questions about that and remarked that he has imprisoned people with more severe health problems than Mohr.

“Prison is not a place that anybody wants to be, particularly if you have medical problems,” the judge said.

But he said he was willing to go along with the recommendation from the prosecution and defense because of the specific circumstances of Mohr’s case. Mohr, who survived breast cancer, uterine cancer, leukemia and lymphoma, is a caregiver for her partner who testified he suffered a stroke that left him legally blind and disabled.