Jailed for stiffing his divorce lawyer

A 61-YEAR-OLD paralegal paid a steep price for his divorce: one month in the Nassau County jail.

An angry Paul Hargrove told the Daily News that a fight with his divorce lawyer over a $45,000 legal bill led to his imprisonment, with a tough-guy judge imposing the unusually harsh sentence.

“I don’t think it was fair at all,” Hargrove told The News. “And I don’t know anyone who thinks it was fair.”

Count Hargrove’s stiffed attorney, Barry Gross, among that surprised group.

Gross never expected his estranged client to land in a cell, and even recommended a simple $1,000 fine to Nassau Supreme Court Justice George Peck.

Yet Peck, a former Criminal Court judge, promised in September to jail Hargrove for contempt if he didn’t pay Gross the full $45,000 judgment. And then Peck followed through. “He’s still in the Criminal Court mind-set — lock ’em up, hang ’em high,” said Hargrove’s new Gleason.

Hargrove (photo inset) was without a job after his employer relocated to Buffalo, leaving him unable to pay Gross, he said.

“I was handcuffed right there in court and paraded to a cell they had in the back of the courtroom,” he said. “I was shocked.”

Jail in a civil proceeding, without an arrest, is a rare event. Peck, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the case or Gleason’s assessment of his legal mindset.

Hargrove and ex-wife Rhonda have one son, now a 20-yearold college student, and were married 16 years until their divorce became final in 2006.

Hargrove and Gross have done battle ever since over the tab still owed the attorney.

Gross said he did his job well, and billed Hargrove for the $45,000 by lawyer, Peter the time the divorce was over.

Hargrove charges Gross was too often represented in court by a colleague better versed in criminal than matrimonial law, and fought for a reduced tab. Gross finally won a 2013 judgment against Hargrove. After a series of court appearances and delays, Peck surprisingly jailed the attorney’s client this past Sept. 1.

When Hargrove was released 28 days later, his legal lot hadn’t changed: He was still out of work and deeply in debt. Gross now tabulates the legal bill at $61,000 with interest.

Hargrove, who lives in Forest Hills, Queens, denied Gross’ contention that he’s hiding money to avoid paying up. Gross said he plans to see Hargrove in court — again — and force him to detail his assets.

“I still don’t have my money,” Gross said. “So I’ll have to serve him again, and I guess we’ll do that dance for a while.”