New York City is offering millions of dollars to settle lawsuits filed by the targets of illegal wiretaps set up by a former Brooklyn prosecutor who tried to spy on her former lover.
A combined $5.5 million is on the table to settle a trio of lawsuits filed against the city and former Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Tara Lenich, a Law Department spokesman said.
The ex-prosecutor was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for abusing her access to wiretaps in order to snoop on ex-colleague Stephanie Rosenfeld and NYPD Detective Jarrett Lemieux.
Lenich fraudulently cut-and-pasted judges’ signatures on wiretap applications in order to listen in on Rosenfeld and Lemieux’s calls and read their texts.
The city has proposed paying $1.4 million to Rosenfeld, who claims that she had to quit her job at the Brooklyn DA’s office because of all the water-cooler talk about Lenich’s case. Lemieux, with whom Lenich had a relationship, is being offered $950,000.
The city is also willing to plunk down $3.2 million to settle a class-action suit filed on behalf of other individuals who may have been swept up in Lenich’s ill-begotten espionage.
Law Department spokesman Nicholas Paolucci said the settlement offers are still being finalized.
“This individual clearly abused the authority entrusted to her as a prosecutor,” Paolucci told The Post in a written statement. “She illegally used her tools and training for personal gain instead of furthering the interests of the public and cleverly concealed her scheme.
“The district attorney’s office has since strengthened its procedures to guard against this kind of misconduct and we are settling these cases in the best interests of all parties,” Paolucci said.
Richard Emery, an attorney for Rosenfeld, confirmed on Friday that his client was offered the seven-figure settlement.
“She suffered a great injustice,” Emery said.
An attorney for Lenich declined to comment.