A disgraced showbiz agent who once represented TV, film and Broadway actors avoided jail time when he was sentenced Thursday to three years probation for stealing more than $500,000 from his ex-clientele to help fund a lifestyle that included expensive art and jewelry.
Peter Strain, 64, of Los Angeles, will serve six months of home confinement and must complete 500 hours of community service as part of the sentencing order handed down by Manhattan federal Judge George Daniels.
Strain pleaded guilty in March to interstate transportation of stolen property and had faced up to three years behind bars under his plea deal.
Prosecutors say Strain regularly lied to three TV actors about payments for their acting work. For example, he told one actor their payment got lost in the mail.
The pilfered actors are not named in the complaint, but The Post’s Page Six in 2013 reported that actor John Doman filed suit against Strain in Los Angeles and claimed the agent refused to pay him $440,000. Doman claimed the money was owed for his work playing Rodrigo Borgia in 12 episodes of Showtime’s “The Borgias.”
Prosecutors said Strain used clients’ money to buy more than $310,000 in artwork, $161,000 in jewelry and $57,000 in luxury items like pricey clothes.