New York City-based attorney Salvatore Strazzullo, also known as the “Night-Life Lawyer,” was reportedly found dead in his car in front of his parents’ Brooklyn home on Saturday (August 10). No cause of death has been revealed.
The 52-year-old, who was facing multiple ongoing criminal cases for allegedly bilking elderly clients out of millions of dollars, became a fixture in the tabloids for repping celebrities in trouble and strippers suing pro athletes. Some of the cases he took on routinely stemmed from celebrities’ late-night or intoxicant-fueled exploits, earning him the “Night-Life Lawyer” in a 2012 New York Times profile.
In 2011, he defended Foxy Brown for hiking down her undergarments and mooning a neighbor she’d been feuding with. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Walsh wound up dismissing the charges.
Strazzullo also repped exotic dancer Milana Dravnel, who sued boxer Oscar de la Hoya for $100 million in 2007 after he allegedly attempted to stop her from selling photos of him strutting around in lingerie. After the photos went public, Dravnel sold them to a West Coast photo agency for $70,000.
De la Hoya’s team claimed they were doctored, which resulted in the lawsuit. Further allegations were also made against De la Hoya, including his alleged penchant for donning a variety of ladies undergarments and wanting to be called “Goldie” while wearing them. By June 2008, Dravnel dropped the charges after signing a confidentiality agreement with his camp.
But trouble started for Strazzullo in 2011, when Desiree DeMartino, a paralegal and former employee, sued him for sexual harassment. More recently, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez claimed Strazzullo had used his escrow account as a Ponzi scheme for years, taking funds from one client to pay off another while racking up tens of thousands in charges at fancy restaurants and expensive hotels.
He was accused of stealing nearly $3.8 million in total, which prosecutors said he spent on a $100,000 BMW and a tony apartment at the Battery Park City complex for $13,000 per month, among other lavish items. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree grand larceny, four counts of second-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud.
Strazzullo also pleaded not guilty in December 2023 in a different Brooklyn criminal case, where prosecutors alleged he stole $1.5 million from three other clients. Both cases were still pending at the time of his death.