DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – THE FORMER HEAD OF the Queens Defenders legal aid nonprofit and her ex-husband were sentenced to prison time in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday for embezzling from the organization, Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced.
Lori Zeno, 65, the co-founder and former executive director, was sentenced to 43 months, and Rashad Ruhani, 56, a former employee, to 57 months, as well as combined financial penalties of nearly $1 million.
Zeno hired Ruhani in October 2023, with the pair marrying shortly after. Between June 2024 and January 2025, they claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses as business expenses, including a $10,000 Bali vacation, a $3,300 television, a $4,000 Louis Vuitton handbag and $39,000 in rent for a penthouse apartment. Zeno also secured fake positions for friends of Ruhani, including hiring another woman married to him to direct a non-existent “health and wellness” program.
The Queens Eagle reports that the pair pointed fingers at each other over the crime, with Zeno saying that Ruhani took advantage of her during a low point in her life, while Ruhani said Zeno initiated the relationship and encouraged him to spend.
As a result, Queens Defenders lost its city contract to defend low-income New Yorkers, Nocella said; the organization was later absorbed into Brooklyn Defender Services.
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