STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - A former Staten Island attorney is sentenced to prison, and ordered to pay half a million dollars for defrauding the government.

Richard Luthmann was sentenced to four years, but is expected to be out in two because of time served.

Earlier this year, he pleaded not guilty to two of 11 charges, including wire fraud and extortion, related to a fraudulent scrap metal business he and two co-defendants were involved with back in 2015.

They were accused of selling shipping containers packed with cheap filler material to businesses wanting to buy scrap metal.

During sentencing hearings, Luthmann blamed his bipolar disorder, as well as his drug and alcohol addiction for his behavior. 

The judge went so far as to say the crime was "stupid."

“It was definitely bizarre, it was a 100 percent stupid, I mean everyone knows that and Richard knows that and I would say Richard handles it well and basically he’s done half of the sentence already," said Arthur Aidala, Luthmann's defense attorney.

Luthmann has already served almost 18 months behind bars, so he could be out as early as July 2021.

He still has another legal hurdle to overcome - a state case for charges that stemmed from a NY1 investigation into some misleading Facebook pages he created.