Boruch Drillman’s Sentencing is Coming Up

3 June 2025

Boruch Drillman’s judgment day is almost here — and his lawyer is taking great pains to paint him in the best possible light.

The 36-year-old Drillman pleaded guilty in 2023 for his role in a $165 million mortgage fraud scheme.

Drillman was among the first to plead guilty to a sprawling mortgage fraud investigation. The Department of Justice brought criminal charges against Drillman’s co-conspirators, Eli Puretz, Aron Puretz, Moshe Silber and Fred Schulman soon afterwards.

Drillman’s co-conspirators have all been sentenced by Judge Robert Kirsch, a U.S. District Court Judge in Trenton, New Jersey.

All eyes are now on Drillman. His sentencing date was initially scheduled for April 2024 but has been postponed to June 16, 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

But prior to sentencing, Drillman’s lawyer is concerned that Judge Kirsch may be left with the impression that Drillman failed to file personal income tax returns for 2022 and 2023. Drillman’s tax returns were presented to the Judge as part of a pre-sentence investigation report.

Drillman’s attorney Jeffrey Lichtman recently wrote a letter to the court acknowledging that Drillman failed to file the returns. But Drillman did so only on the advice of his accountant, according to Lichtman. His accountant, Philip Stern of Brooklyn, allegedly advised Drillman to delay filing tax returns until Drillman obtained additional K-1s, tax forms that show income for pass-through companies.

It’s anyone’s guess how Judge Kirsch will view Drillman’s request. The federal judge is not an easy man to read; his sentences have varied against Drillman’s co-conspirators.

Prosecutors allege Drillman was involved in two fraudulent flips: an office building in Troy, Michigan, and an apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio, which allowed Drillman and his co-conspirators to obtain larger loans than they otherwise would have received.

Drillman’s co-conspirators in the Michigan deal were Aron and Eli Puretz, of Lakewood, New Jersey. On the Ohio deal, his co-conspirators were Silber and Schulman.

Aron Puretz was the first to be sentenced by Kirsch. He received the maximum sentence of five years. At the end of the hearing, 53-year-old Puretz was detained by the U.S. Marshals. The judge noted Puretz’s lack of remorse for the victims.

“I am deeply troubled by his conduct, which, in my judgment, frankly, is representative really of a lack of full candor, cooperation, contriteness and remorse,” said Kirsch.

But Kirsch sentenced Aron’s son, Eli Puretz, to a much lighter sentence of two years. He claimed the younger Puretz was a “novice swimming in a shark’s pool” and should be treated very differently from his father. Kirsch took into account Puretz’s unaddressed mental health issues and a childhood allegedly marked by neglect and abuse.

Judge Kirsch’s sentencing for Silber came as a surprise. Silber, who at 36 years old controlled an 11,000-unit apartment empire through a number of shell companies and LLCs, was only given 30 months in prison. Silber had violated the terms of his bond and was detained prior to his sentencing.

Meanwhile, Kirsch gave the 72-year-old Schulman just one year in prison. He said the prosecutors failed to show that Schulman made any compensation from the Cincinnati flip.

“It remains curious to me why a 70-year-old guy would get involved in this with no financial remuneration at the end of it. It doesn’t make sense to me,” said Kirsch.

The defendants’ lawyers sought to present a full picture of their clients. Silber was an EMT and devoted father of six children. Eli Puretz was a young father who struggled with undiagnosed mental health issues. Aron Puretz was a philanthropist who helped people struggling to pay medical bills.

That leaves only Drillman, whose personal life will likely come under scrutiny by prosecutors.

After pleading guilty to one count in the mortgage fraud scheme, Drillman moved to Bal Harbor and lived in a $10,500-a-month condo. The condo board attempted to evict him for chain-smoking cigarettes. (Drillman allegedly tried to cover his tracks by spraying the hallways with air freshener and propping paper to keep the hallway door open, according to one lawsuit.)

In the meantime, Drillman has faced legal issues outside of the Michigan and Ohio flips. In Miami, a judge awarded a $2.1 million judgment against Drillman for allegedly failing to pay a $1.5 million loan to investor Arie Harel. At one point, Harel had sought sanctions against Drillman’s attorney, pointing to “interruptions, speaking objections, and witness coaching” during Drillman’s deposition.

While taking the deposition, Drillman repeatedly asked for smoke breaks.

“If you don’t allow me to smoke, I am going to need more breaks because I am an addicted smoker but there are going to be more breaks that I will be requesting simply because I’m going to need to take a cigarette,” said Drillman. “I have a smoking addiction.”