Orange County vs Linda Blake

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OUTCOME: Convicted

An Orange County prosecutor named Robert Ostrov has the pelts of two lawyers and one fake lawyer hanging from his belt, and he’s working on acquiring a fourth. Michelle Okin of Cornwall-on-Hudson ... and Linda Blake of Warwick were disbarred in 2004 over crimes involving the mishandling of clients’ affairs and money. Leonard Houston of Middletown pleaded guilty last year to posing as a lawyer – the second time he’s engaged in such a rip-off. Houston is now in state prison. This week, Daniel Fruitbine of Central Valley surrendered to Woodbury police and was charged with passing himself off as a lawyer, despite the fact that he’d been disbarred in 1997 for carrying a loaded, concealed and illegal handgun while he was accompanying clients on collection visits. “I have had people say that when I walk into the courtroom, everyone starts getting nervous. I do think it instills confidence in the professions to know that the bad ones are getting put away,” Ostrov said this week. The former Nassau County assistant district attorney moved north to the Orange County district attorney’s office in 2001. Lest anyone think that Ostrov’s got some kind of a grudge against his brethren of the bar, he’s also prosecuted a doctor and a clergyman.