PHILADELPHIA — A former attorney from Paoli was sentenced Tuesday to prison time, supervised release, and more than $1.6 million in restitution after admitting to stealing valuable coins from a bank safe deposit box in Center City Philadelphia, federal prosecutors said.
Richard DiStefano, 66, received a sentence of one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to bank larceny, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Federal prosecutors said DiStefano stole precious coins from a safe deposit box at a Wells Fargo branch on the 100 block of South Broad Street between July 2017 and February 2021.
Authorities said the FBI learned of the theft in June 2024 and later determined DiStefano was the last person known to have accessed the safe deposit box.
According to court filings and statements cited by prosecutors, the FBI executed a search warrant at DiStefano’s residence in September 2024. During the search, investigators said DiStefano admitted taking the coins and selling them through multiple auction houses over several years.
The stolen collection was appraised at slightly more than $1.6 million, prosecutors said.
DiStefano pleaded guilty in September 2025 after being charged by information with bank larceny.
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage imposed the sentence Tuesday.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Grenell and Ruth Mandelbaum.
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