Hartford - F. Robert LaSaracina, a Norwich accountant who once sat on the boards of charitable organizations and counted some of southeastern Connecticut's leading institutions among his clients, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to single counts of wire fraud and failure to pay federal employment taxes.

Under a plea agreement, the government recommended LaSaracina be imprisoned for 63 to 78 months though the crimes, both felonies, carry a maximum prison term of 25 years. LaSaracina also faces hefty fines and an order that he make restitution to more than 20 victims he bilked of at least $2.5 million in fraudulent investment schemes.

Chief among the victims are the beneficiaries of the Kauppinen family trusts, of which LaSaracina acted as trustee from 1997 to 2010.

Judge Christopher F. Droney, who accepted the agreement signed by LaSaracina; his attorney, Hubert Santos; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McGarry, set sentencing for Oct. 7.

In the meantime, the 60-year-old LaSaracina will remain free on the $500,000 bond he posted following his October arrest on mail fraud, wire fraud and money-laundering charges. The conditions in place since his arrest will continue to apply, including an order that he stay out of casinos and avoid contact with his victims.

"Yes, your honor," LaSaracina said in a deep, gravelly voice when Droney asked whether he understood the consequences of waiving his right to indictment by a grand jury. Had the grand jury considered the evidence against LaSaracina, at least 12 grand jurors (of at least 16 and as many as 23) would have had to have found "probable cause" to return an indictment against him. In that event, there would have been a trial.

Droney noticed the hobbled LaSaracina's apparent discomfort as he stood at a lectern, and allowed him to sit at the defense table throughout much of the proceeding. LaSaracina was accompanied by attorney Jessica Santos, who is no relation to Hubert Santos, LaSaracina's main counsel.

In response to Droney's questions, LaSaracina said he has been seeing a "mental-health specialist" on a weekly basis and had been taking medication for his ailing back for two days.

McGarry, joined at the prosecution's table by an IRS investigator, described LaSaracina's failure to "pay over" more than $734,000 in federal taxes withheld from employees of his accounting firm, F. Robert LaSaracina CPA, LLC. According to the plea agreement, the unpaid taxes were from 2005 to 2010. The offense carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine.

The wire-fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and, under an "alternative fine provision," the greater of "twice the gross gain to the defendant resulting from the offense; twice the gross loss resulting from the offense; or $250,000." In LaSaracina's case, twice the gross gain or loss would far exceed $250,000, McGarry said.

In the plea agreement, LaSaracina and the government stipulated that from about November 2001 to September 2010, LaSaracina induced more than 20 "victim-investors" to provide him with money under false pretenses. However, a document filed with the agreement mentions only two couples, who are referred to as "victim-investors #1" and "victim-investors #2." During the court hearing, McGarry described them as a Florida couple and an Old Lyme couple who invested $100,000 and $75,000, respectively, with LaSaracina.

LaSaracina provided the Florida couple with a promissory note guaranteeing they would receive an 8 percent return on their investment. The Old Lyme couple were promised 11 percent interest.

In both cases, the "investments" ended up in LaSaracina's business or personal bank accounts and were used to pay business and personal expenses or, in Ponzi-like fashion, other victim-investors.

As trustee of the Kauppinen trusts, LaSaracina mortgaged previously unencumbered trust-owned property, diverting more than $1.2 million for his personal use, according to the agreement. The property in question is at 247 and 251 Greenmanville Ave. in Stonington, site of a Friendly's restaurant and an EconoLodge motel. It was once the site of the Old Mystic Motor Lodge, one of several motels once owned by Lillian and Frederick Kauppinen, the Norwich couple who established the Kauppinen trusts to benefit their three children: Riitta Haley, Frederick Kauppinen Jr. and Ilona Kauppinen.

Linda Kidder, a Waterford attorney acting as conservator for Ilona Kauppinen of Norwich, attended Thursday's hearing in Hartford but declined to comment afterward. She has filed a malpractice suit in New London Superior Court over LaSaracina's handling of the trusts.

Asked for comment as he was leaving the courtroom Thursday, LaSaracina waved off a reporter, saying, "No thanks."

b.hallenbeck@theday.com