Bucks County socialite Claire Risoldi ordered to jail — again. Why she's still free in $13M fraud case

Claire Risoldi, the Buckingham socialite, political influencer and twice-convicted felon left yet another Bucks County court hearing Wednesday a free woman.

How long she will remain free depends on whether her lawyer files another appeal of her 2019 jail sentence.

For the third time in as many years, a judge has ordered the 75-year-old Risoldi to start serving the 11 ½ to 23 month jail sentence she received after she was convicted of participating in a $13 million insurance fraud scheme.

On Wednesday, Judge Stephen Leiberman directed Risoldi to turn herself into the Bucks County Correctional Facility in late October after he rejected her as eligible for a nonexistent reentry program and refused to consider revising the original trial judge's sentence.

"I believe justice delayed is justice denied," the judge said, noting that Risoldi has shown no remorse for her crimes or apologized to the first responders she falsely accused of stealing from her.

Lieberman is a Berks County senior judge who took over the Risoldi case in 2020 after the retirement of senior Chester County Judge Thomas Gavin who oversaw the case for five years through the trial and sentencing after Bucks County judges recused themselves citing Risoldi's political connections.

Following the hearing, Risoldi attorney, Michael Diamondstein, said he will be reviewing the legal options, but did not immediately commit to filing an appeal.

Latest attempt to send Risoldi to jail

The hearing in Bucks County was Risoldi's latest attempt to avoid jail after a state court rejected an appeal seeking to find the original trial judge gave her an "illegal" sentence.

In the appeal, Diamondstein argued the sentence should be vacated because Gavin failed to address "on the record" if Risoldi was eligible for a reentry plan, which would allow the court to parole her before reaching the minimum sentence of 11½ months.

Earlier this year the state superior court ordered the matter returned to the trial court so it could clarify Risoldi's eligibility. It was learned last month that Bucks County does not offer a reentry program that Risoldi would be eligible for.

In testimony on Wednesday, Michael Harrison, the county's deputy director of adult probation and parole, confirmed the only early release program his department operates involves back-time sentences for individuals incarcerated on parole or probation violations.

He added that a defendant sentenced to 11 ½ to 23 months would not be eligible for release until the minimum sentence is completed, unless a judge ordered the original sentence shortened.

"Parole is a privilege; it's not a right in Pennsylvania," Harrison added. "You're asking for preferential treatment for your client."

Diamondstein, though, has argued that as the trial court judge Leiberman can set aside Gavin's sentence and make a new order granting his client "immediate parole."

Lieberman, though, has previously said he was not comfortable "substantially changing" another judge's sentence.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Linda Montag added that the court cannot hear a petition for immediate parole when a defendant has not been incarcerated in the first place.

"Immediate parole is a legal fiction," Montag said.

Previously prosecutors have said court records show Gavin initially considered house arrest, but opted for incarceration when he sentenced Risoldi.

In the 2019 sentencing hearing, Gavin also said he felt Risoldi should spend some time in jail, emphasizing that he wanted to send a clear message to the public that crime does not pay.

Montag also contends that her office has confirmed with the county corrections department that it can adequately accommodate the various health issues Risoldi has said she is suffering.

Diamondstein handed over to the court hundreds of pages of medical records for Risoldi on Wednesday, which the judge placed under seal preventing their public release.

Claire Risoldi: 'Hey, you win some. You lose some.'

The Claire Risoldi in court Wednesday was a shadow of the commanding courtroom presence she had maintained since her 2015 arrest.

Her famous teased tall blonde mane was pulled back in a messy updo topped with a straw sun visor. Where in the past she showed up for court dressed to the Nines and Tens with plenty of bling, she opted for a casual look of blue jeans and an oversized paisley print shirt.

Instead of a full face of makeup, Risoldi wore nothing but an oxygen cannula. Her COPD is so bad these days she is tethered to an oxygen tank, she said while waiting to enter the courtroom.

The only reminder of her previous fashionista self Wednesday was her trademark accessory: mirrored aviator sunglasses.

Instead of strutting into court, Risoldi was pushed in a wheelchair with her left foot in a soft cast, the result of a fracture she suffered last month in a fall. Her left arm was wrapped in a black sling. She broke that, too, in a fall, she said. She uses a cane all the time now, she said.

Since her two strokes, her balance has gotten worse, Risoldi said. She also had COVID-19 a couple times, though she had all the vaccines, she said.

She guessed that old age was finally catching up with her.

Still, the years and health problems have not dimmed her personality one lumen.

While waiting for one of the Pennsylvania Attorney General prosecutors to arrive, Risoldi showered compliments on Senior Deputy Attorney General David Augenbraun.

"You don't age," she told Augenbraun, which generated a burst of laughter in the room.

'You're like an old friend," Risoldi said.

"An old friend who wants to put you in jail," her attorney Diamondstein added.

"Hey, you win some. You lose some," Risoldi said.

Risoldi's Bucks County fraud case review

So far, Risoldi has been winning. She has avoided serving any jail time since her conviction while various appeals worked their way through the appeals courts.

She did complete a 30-day sentence in 2019 for violating a 2016 court order. She also served five days in 2016, after she was arrested on witness intimidation charges that were later dismissed.

At her 2019 sentencing Risoldi complained the steel frame beds aggravated her herniated discs. She described the jail experience as "really, really rough" and "pure hell."

The fraud case made national headlines in 2015 after Risoldi, several members of her family and two family associations were charged with fraud and related charges for swindling insurer AIG out of $10 million.

The money was related to payouts for damages related to the 2013 fire at the family's former 10-acre Buckingham estate known as "Clairemont." Risoldi falsely accused volunteer firefighters of stealing $10 million in her jewelry.

At the time of their arrests, the Risoldi family were well known in Bucks County social circles for hosting lavish fundraisers, social events and GOP political candidates at Clairemont.

A jury later found Risoldi guilty of filing $2.75 million in false insurance claims.

Risoldi wasn't the only one convicted of participating in the scheme. Her son, Carl Risoldi also of Buckingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and related charges and was sentenced to probation. Carl Risoldi attended Wednesday's hearing.

Others entered diversion programs for first-time offenders. Charges against the associates were dismissed. Claire Risoldi's second husband, Thomas French, killed himself shortly after the indictments were handed down.

Carl Risoldi surrendered the fire-damaged property to the state to satisfy a restitution order. A New York investment company renovated the property after purchasing it at a public auction in 2019. It sold earlier this year for $3.05 million, county property records show.

After learning about the property's checkered history and the prior owner's false accusations against firefighters, the new owner, a former southern California resident, reportedly made a "significant," but undisclosed, donation to the Midway Fire Company.