The former editor in chief of an influential hip-hop magazine pleaded guilty on Thursday to lying to investigators to protect her boyfriend in a case that involved the theft of more than $300,000 from a public-defender organization.
Kimberly Osorio, 52, the former editor of The Source, admitted to making false statements about hiding the phone of Rashad Ruhani, 57, who helped the founder of the Queens Defenders, Lori Zeno, embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organization.
Ms. Zeno and Mr. Ruhani were indicted last year in Federal District Court in Brooklyn after prosecutors said they had treated themselves to indulgences like a vacation to Bali, teeth-whitening procedures and repairs to a Mercedes-Benz, all using public money intended for the defense of poor and indigent clients.
Their fraud was so outrageous and destructive that the Queens Defenders urged a federal judge to sentence them to prison, a highly unusual request from an organization in which attorneys tend to be philosophically opposed to incarceration.
Mr. Ruhani and Ms. Zeno both pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy earlier this year. Mr. Ruhani was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison, while Ms. Zeno received a sentence of three years and seven months.
Ms. Osorio and Mr. Ruhani had been in a romantic relationship starting in April 2025, prosecutors said. Ms. Zeno and Mr. Ruhani had been married in a ceremony that had no legal standing, while Mr. Ruhani also had a wife who was on the payroll of the Queens Defenders despite doing no work and living in Saudi Arabia.
