OttawaJoseph Stéphane Langlois, the disbarred lawyer from Rockland, Ont., has been sentenced to six years in prison for defrauding victims of more than $3 million.Joseph Stéphane Langlois pleaded guilty to 12 criminal charges in JuneCBC News · Posted: Oct 06, 2025 2:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoFormer lawyer Joseph Stéphane Langlois, seen here outside the Ottawa Courthouse during an earlier hearing, apologized to his victims after receiving his sentence Monday. (Nicolas Legault/Radio-Canada)Joseph Stéphane Langlois, the disbarred lawyer from Rockland, Ont., has been sentenced to six years in prison for defrauding victims of more than $3 million.In June, Langlois pleaded guilty to 12 fraud charges: four counts of committing fraud over $5,000 and eight counts of uttering, possessing or trafficking in a forged document. Ontario Provincial Police laid the charges in 2022 after more than $3 million disappeared from two mixed trust accounts at Langlois’s firm.At the Ottawa Courthouse on Monday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Alexandre Kaufman advised Langlois to reflect on the impact of his actions and use his time in prison to rehabilitate himself. “Considering the seriousness of your offences, the extent of them and your position as a lawyer, we must protect society and dissuade other professionals from committing similar acts,” Kaufman said in French.Among the victim impact statements read during Langlois’s sentencing hearing in July was one from his ex-wife describing his crimes as “human betrayal.”She told court that Langlois had forged her signature multiple times, leaving her owing large sums of money to people she didn’t know, forcing her into bankruptcy and costing her her business.’I am deeply sorry’After hearing his sentence, Langlois turned toward the victims present in the courtroom and apologized.”I am deeply sorry. I understand that my actions have created fear, confusion and a sense of injustice. I take full responsibility for what I have done. Being tried in a court of law is the fairest course of action for you,” he told them in French. Langlois’s lawyer Christian Deslauriers pointed out in French that his client has “suffered a lot of stigma on social media, which has had a big impact on his personal and professional life, unlike other defendants who sometimes fly under the radar.”Deslauriers also submitted three letters from his Langlois’s colleagues and a fourth letter from his son.Crown lawyer François Dulude said in French that the impact of Langlois’s actions weren’t just financial, but shattered lives, destroyed plans and broke trust.The judge also issued a restitution order for one of the victims who will recover $827,127.97 that Langlois took from them.The Law Society of Ontario has reimbursed other victims through its insurance and a compensation fund.With files from Radio-Canada, Andrew Foote, Arthur White-Crummey and Jayden Dill
Disbarred lawyer who defrauded clients sentenced to 6 years in prison
