A former city Department of Education consultant convicted of stealing $1.7 million from the city school system says he deserves leniency due to the sexual shenanigans of his self-described “cougar” ex-wife.
Willard “Ross” Lanham claims in court papers that his recently divorced ex, Laura, is going through a “highly ostentatious mid-life crisis” that includes “attending night clubs and dating men in their teens and twenties.”
The situation, he says, has left him alone to provide “financial and emotional support and guidance” to their 16-year-old daughter.
“A low sentence in this case would allow Mr. Lanham to maintain the close contacts he has with his children and especially with his youngest daughter,” defense lawyer Stephen Preziosi wrote in a court filing.
Manhattan federal prosecutors want Lanham sent away for up to nine years for running an over-billing scheme on a massive project to connect city schools to the Internet.
Laura Lanham, who posed nearly nude on the Internet to attract young men, yesterday called her ex-hubby’s allegations “such a f–king lie,” and insisted that she’s not dating anyone.
“I go out with my 40-year-old friends because I’m single and I’m allowed to go out,” she said. “I don’t sleep around like he likes to make everybody think.”
Laura also called Ross a “master manipulator” who’s “been a cheater forever.”
Laura, who still shares a Long Island home with Ross, also vowed to “tear him a new a–hole” as soon as he got home from court.
“If he thought I was a bitch before, I’m going to show him a bitch.”