Lawyer Gets 22 Months

By Robin Topping
Originally published in Newsday, April 3, 2002

A Melville divorce lawyer who pleaded guilty last year to one count of transporting child pornography has been sentenced to 22 months in a federal prison.

Bradley Kurtzberg, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr. in Trenton, N.J., on March 11. Brown also imposed a sentence of 3 years' supervised release, and a $3,000 fine, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Newark.

Police arrested Kurtzberg in March 2000 after he made arrangements to meet someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl for sex, after two months of online communication. The girl, known as "April" to Kurtzberg, was actually a Bergen County detective in New Jersey who was a member of the FBI task force that monitors cyberspace for sexual predators.

"Brad is paying an incredible price personally and professionally for his poor judgment," Kurtzberg's attorney, Ron Rubinstein of Manhattan, said. Kurtzberg has been free on $100,000 unsecured bond and will surrender within 60 days of the sentencing date.

The charge of transporting child pornography refers to Kurtzberg's sending graphic images of minors engaging in sex through his computer to the person he thought was "April."

Rubinstein said he contacted the Grievance Committee of the Tenth Judicial District to alert them to Kurtzberg's conviction. That committee will investigate the case and make a recommendation on whether Kurtzberg should keep or lose his law license.