High-profile attorney Dominic Barbara is facing allegations that he tried to extort $200,000 from his ex-wife—his second arrest since September involving his ex.
The 67-year-old Garden City lawyer, whose license to practice law in New York has been suspended, will be arraigned Tuesday on charges of stalking, harassment and attempted grand larceny.
Prosecutors said Barbara threatened to release “compromising photos and videos” of his ex-wife in an attempt to destroy her reputation and career between March and September after she refused his request that she give him $10,000. He then upped that sum to $200,000, authorities said.
“Mr. Barbara’s conduct indicates a complete lack of respect for the people he maligned, the rule of law, and common decency,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said, calling the allegations a “cold-hearted campaign of harassment.”
Barbara allegedly planned to hold a news conference to release the details of his ex-wife’s sex life, contacted her associates and told her employer about photos he supposedly has of the victim with a married partner of the law firm where she works.
“Things are going to get a lot worse,” he allegedly told his ex-wife when he confronted her at a beauty salon, according to Rice’s office.
Barbara previously pleaded not guilty Sept. 5 for allegedly violating an August order of protection by trying to contact his ex-wife through a third party.
Barbara faces up to one year in jail if convicted.
His clients have included Joey Buttafuoco, who served jail time for the statutory rape of “Long Island Lolita” Amy Fisher, and Daniel Schuler, whose wife was involved in a wrong-way crash that killed eight people on the Taconic Parkway.