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Excuseman’s superpowers finally failed him.
A Chicago lawyer who created a comic book character called “Excuseman” — and even dressed up as the hero to teach about the exciting action of the law — has been indicted on 36 felony counts for allegedly stealing more than $1.1 million from his clients.
The damning indictment against Jordan Margolis came last week, according to the Chicago Tribune. He has been disbarred in Illinois and, after posting $150,000 bail, is now living in Los Angeles and trying to break into the entertainment industry.
Margolis' Facebook and LinkedIn pages list him as screenwriter, producer, performance artist, playwright and poet — but there’s no mention of his disgraced law practice.
“At an early age, I started making stuff up and look where it's gotten me-- TO HOLLYWOOD,BABY!” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Excuseman, in all his villainous glory.
(via YouTube)
Margolis graduated from Northwestern Law School and a built a prominent personal injury practice. But according to prosecutors, he was a secret villain — stealing settlement money from nearly a dozen clients in a Ponzi scheme to support his lavish lifestyle, help his firm and, sometimes, pay for his second life as Excuseman.
Margolis created the comic character and put an anti-heroic effort into bringing Excuseman to life. He self-published several Excuseman books and donned a blue-and-orange costume to star as the hero in short films.
“Spend a little more than you should have? Drink a little more than you should have? Excuseman is here for all occasions!
” he bellows at a pedestrian in one clip from 2011.
“I can get you out of any jam you want.”
Jordan Margolis' mugshot.
(Cook County Sheriff's Office)
His videos are a bizarre mix of off-color legal advice (he warns about people who “mess up and don’t fess up") and off-putting, often graphic jokes about gender relations, sex and Judaism.
His YouTube page is filled with dozens of Excuseman videos spanning five years — many featuring elaborate animations and supporting performances from other self-styled comedians.
Margolis often plugged a website for his comic creation, excuseman.com. But the website now appears to have been taken over by an Excuseman nemesis, who reworked the site as one big warning about the ex-attorney’s dastardly deeds.
“Jordan Lee Margolis has hurt a lot of people,” the site says.
“His standard response to this is to make a joke, usually a bad one. He claims to be a good guy, a nice guy, a funny guy, pointing to his awful attempts at humor as proof. He has now been charged with 36 felony counts, including theft, theft by deception, misappropriation of financial institution property, continuing a financial crimes enterprise, and forgery. Nice guy.”
With jsilverstein@nydailynews.com