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By PAUL LEGALL The Spectator A S'IDNEY Creek lawyer who admitted cheating clients and irrthors out of about $1.7 million wastoldtoexpectalongjailsen-- tence when he appears in court again next month Albin Rogala, 42, pleaded guilty yaterday to 31 counts of fraud in connection with a bridge financing scheme in which about 30 creditors lost from $4,000 to $210,000 each Provincial court Judge Anton Zu- raw said a "lengthy period of incar- ceration is for deterrence" andadjomnedthecaseuntilJune9 when he will sentence Rogala. Rogala, who was disbarred ear- fierthisyearoverthemwinbe allowed to remain out of until then. m Peter Speyer, an asistant Crown attorney from Kitchener, said police estimated that Rogala had spent about "$00,000 on lottery tickets, had $600,000 on I] Continued from invmted about $244,000 in the Power House Restaurant in Stoney Creek and had squandered an undeter- mined amount on his "own personal concupiscence (lust) of the i1 " He did not spell out precisely what he meant by "concupiscence of the fl " But he told the judge it was hard to determine how much Rogala had spent on these indul- gencs because they involved a kind of businm where "books are not kept." Mr. Speyer said police found no evidence Rogala had secreted investors' money in a Swis bank account or that he had lived an ex- travagant lifestyle with the stolen money. He said the former lawyer ---- he specialized in real estate law before his disbarment -- spelled out the workings of his investment scam in a 3V2-hour confxion after he surren- dered to the Hamilton-Wentworth fiawifquad Jan 10. A1 abused me," he told Rogala While he was involved in the bridge financing sch Rogala appeared to have little time left to practise law e, ' speyer said, . f _ . 590'"!!ng a our year penod from 1905 to 1988, he collected a total of about insalai-y. 1 [Med amounts . Pegbodv however, he won a number of lotteries and co]. to one windfall of $50,000. wn brief. Nothing sinister icture taken and paid an amociate to pick up RfigAccordln' g tgmtlgle Crown ala ave a ' sergeants ' Campr and Mike Campbell per- mimontosearchhislawofficeand bank accounts Mr. Speyer said most of the vic- tims were businasmen and sophisti- cated invators who gave Regala money to invat in short-term loam for third parties involved in real StaIntl'e Eummofi f la cases, e ormer wyer promised to pay back the principal with interest and/or a bonus within a predetermined period of time Mr. Speyer said the scheme, which started a few years ago, may have been well-intentioned at the be- ' ' andthatanumberofvictims Ed made succlmful investments be fore the scheme collapsed late last year. Dunng' the later stages, Mr. Spey- er indicated, ala used the money to off old bts or for personal indpulagences Such as lottery tickets, which he'bought in large blocks from Crooked lawyer played $600,000 on lotteries at least 22 outlets The losers, who were concen- trated around the Stone Creek- Hamilton area, includ retired newspaper publisher Roger Brabant, who got stung for $210,000, real estate developer Walter Galdenzi, who lost $90,000, former regional chairman William Sears who was out $34,000, and school trustee Mich-- elle Clarke, who was taken for mg th rdinary king u ere were 0 war people, too, such as Walter Oskmba, who lost his life savings of $50,000. In a letter to Rogala, which was read in court, he demanded his mon- ey back and chastized the former la erforhisactions F . Oskroba wrote that he had worked hard "by the sweat of my bmw"lto save money, "not for m ownpeasmebuttogiVEmy - dren a foothold in society. ' "You knew you were at the end of your rope and should not have C] Contin led on A2