Former Nassau legislator David Denenberg begins serving prison sentence

Former Nassau County Legis. David Denenberg, who pleaded guilty in June to bilking a law firm client out of $2.3 million, has begun serving a 90-day prison sentence at a minimum security New Jersey federal correctional center, court records show.

Denenberg, 52, a Democrat from Merrick, reported to Fort Dix, a prison in Burlington County, on Aug. 24.

He was originally scheduled to report to prison on Sept. 1, but in a June 21 letter to U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert, Denenberg's attorney, Jason Russo, asked that he begin his sentence a week earlier "due to family matters."

Russo said Denenberg believed "there was no reason to delay and that he should get started facing the music . . . He was in a good frame of mind. He's prepared to do what he has to do."

The minimum-security prison, located on the Fort Dix/McGuire Air Force Base, has 4,665 male inmates.

Denenberg pleaded guilty in January to eight felony counts of mail fraud for bilking Systemax, a Port Washington electronics retailer, out of millions in legal services that were never rendered between 2006 and 2014. Denenberg repaid the client $872,000. Denenberg resigned his 19th Legislative District seat, which was later won by Republican Steven Rhoads.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.