A disbarred attorney who continued representing clients after losing his law license has been sentenced to probation after admitting he stole more than $70,000 through deception while unlawfully practicing law.

David T. Schlendorf, 54, of Holladay, Utah, was sentenced in Ocean County Superior Court to three years of probation after previously pleading guilty to five counts of theft by deception and one count of unauthorized practice of law, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

Judge Guy P. Ryan also ordered that Schlendorf have no contact with any of his victims. Prosecutors said Schlendorf has paid full restitution totaling $70,755.

Schlendorf entered his guilty pleas on April 27.

Authorities said the investigation began after a Toms River resident hired Schlendorf in March 2025 to handle a legal matter and paid him approximately $10,000. Investigators later determined Schlendorf falsely represented himself as a licensed attorney despite having been disbarred in New Jersey in December 2022.

Schlendorf was arrested in Toms River on Oct. 7, 2025, by detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crime Squad and the Toms River Police Department. He was lodged in the Ocean County Jail before being released under New Jersey’s bail reform policies.

Investigators later identified five additional victims who hired Schlendorf between January 2023 and September 2025, paying him approximately $60,000 for legal services he was not authorized to provide.

The case was prosecuted by Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Shanon Chant-Berry. The investigation was conducted jointly by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crime Squad and the Toms River Police Department Detective Bureau.