NEW YORK CITY, NY – Prominent New York City attorney, Salvatore Strazzullo, known for his high-profile clients and scandal-ridden personal life, was discovered dead in his car outside his parents’ home in Brooklyn last Saturday. The 52-year-old lawyer, often dubbed the “Night-Life Lawyer,” was entangled in several ongoing criminal cases, with allegations of defrauding elderly clients of millions.
Strazzullo’s clientele was as colorful as his personal life, representing celebrities in legal hot water and exotic dancers in lawsuits against professional athletes. His cases often centered around unusual or embarrassing circumstances, frequently tied to celebrities’ late-night or substance-fueled misadventures. This reputation earned him his nickname, first used in a 2012 New York Times profile.
Among Strazzullo’s most high-profile cases was his defense of rapper Foxy Brown in 2011. Brown was charged with allegedly exposing herself to a neighbor during a disagreement. Strazzullo planned to employ what he called “the underwear defense” if the case went to trial, arguing that his client had simply forgotten to wear underwear on the day of the alleged incident. The charges were eventually dismissed by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Walsh.
Strazzullo also represented Milana Dravnel, an exotic dancer who sued boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya for $100 million in 2007. De la Hoya allegedly attempted to stop Dravnel from selling suggestive photos of him dressed in women’s lingerie. After the photos were made public, Dravnel sold them to a West Coast photo agency for $70,000. De la Hoya’s team claimed the photos were doctored, leading to a lawsuit and the unveiling of numerous scandalous allegations. By June 2008, Dravnel dropped the charges after signing a confidentiality agreement with de la Hoya’s team.
In addition to his high-profile cases, Strazzullo faced legal issues of his own. In 2011, a former employee and paralegal, Desiree DeMartino, sued Strazzullo for sexual harassment. DeMartino claimed that Strazzullo had cornered her in a conference room and behaved inappropriately, among other allegations.
More recently, Strazzullo was facing criminal theft and fraud charges, accused of defrauding elderly clients to fund a lavish lifestyle. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez alleged that Strazzullo had used his escrow account as a Ponzi scheme for years, misappropriating funds from one client to pay another while racking up substantial charges at high-end restaurants and hotels.
Strazzullo was accused of stealing nearly $3.8 million in total, which he allegedly spent on luxuries such as a $100,000 BMW and a $13,000 per month apartment in the Battery Park City complex. He pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree grand larceny, four counts of second-degree grand larceny, and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud.
At the time of his death, Strazzullo was also pleading not guilty in a separate Brooklyn criminal case, where he was accused of stealing $1.5 million from three other clients. Both cases were still pending at the time of his death. The cause of Strazzullo’s death remains unclear.