Man who posed as lawyer gets 2 years

SKOKIE, Ill., July 20 (UPI) -- A suburban Chicago man who handled more than 60 legal cases while posing as a lawyer pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Tahir Malik, 47, of Skokie pleaded guilty to forgery and impersonation of a lawyer in Cook County Judge Dennis Porter's courtroom and was sentenced Monday to two years imprisonment, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

Authorities said Malik, who worked on more than 60 cases including low-level criminal cases, was arrested in December after suspicious staffers at the Skokie courthouse discovered he was not licensed to practice law.

"No one suspected anything for years because he did everything right -- except obtain a law degree," Sheriff Tom Dart said in December.

Malik previously served prison time for a burglary conviction and has previous arrests for theft, shoplifting and criminal trespass.