Raffaello Follieri's lawyer said in papers submitted to a Manhattan federal court Tuesday that the Italian businessman had good intentions when he created a company to buy church property at cheap prices.
Attorney Flora Edwards says Follieri "became intoxicated with it all" after he found himself socializing with some of the world's wealthiest and most successful people.
She says he succumbed to the temptation of misusing other people's money because he lacked the resources to live his friends' opulent lifestyle.
The 30-year-old Follieri is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 23.
