A Queens Village attorney was sentenced to one to three years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from an Astoria church, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Jan. 9.
Debra Hoskins, 70, who is now disbarred, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the first degree in full satisfaction of the indictment against her in November 2025. Between 2018 and 2020, Hoskins improperly accessed escrow funds from a real estate transaction involving the House of Prayer and Deliverance Ministries, Inc. and misled the church pastor to delay the discovery of her crime.
According to the charges, Abraham Leathers Sr., pastor of the House of Prayer and Deliverance Ministries, Inc. which operated out of a storefront at 8-23 Astoria Blvd. across Vernon Boulevard from the Astoria Houses, retained Hoskins to represent him in dissolving the church’s corporation, closing on the sale of the property and dispersing the funds. On May 18, 2018, the property closing took place, and Hoskins received a check for $1,019,394,.65 to be held in escrow. The check was deposited on June 7, 2018, into a lawyer’s bank account controlled by the defendant. Between 2018 and 2020, Leathers questioned Hoskins several times about the availability of the funds. Hoskins told the pastor that court approval was required for the disbursement of the money.
According to the charges, on Aug. 19, 2020, Hoskins filed a false affidavit with the court that claimed there was$1,110,789.65 in the escrow account related to the sale of the property. Leather filed an affidavit requesting disbursement of the funds. On June 23, 2021, the court issued an order for the disbursement of the money.
An investigation by the DA’s office found that the escrow account was depleted by $223,437.91 as of Oct. 1, 2018. After the defendant deposited the complainant’s check in June 2018, the defendant’s escrow account never went back to $1 million. And at the time Hoskins filed the affidavit with the court, the balance of the escrow account was down to approximately $19,000.
Leathers received only $20,000 from the proceeds of the real estate sale. Hoskins was disbarred in December 2023 on an unrelated matter. Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino sentenced Hoskins to one to three years in prison on Jan. 5.
“As an attorney, the defendant was expected to conduct herself with integrity,” Katz said. “Instead of upholding the law and properly stewarding the church’s funds, she sought to enrich herself. For this admitted breach of public trust, she will now serve one to three years in prison.”
