The real estate slump didn't hurt Lyndhurst, N.J., solo Michael Rumore. Bad habits did.

On Jan. 2, he admitted to Judge Harry Carroll in Bergen County Superior Court that between April and August 2008, he stole $4 million in mortgage money from about 20 closings and gambled it away at Atlantic City casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal.

Rumore, who pleaded guilty to first-degree money laundering and second-degree theft by failure to make required disposition, is free on $100,000 bail. The state will recommend a 15-year prison term at his sentencing on April 17.

A lawyer since 1984, Rumore was disbarred by consent on Sept. 17 and has agreed to surrender his New York law license.

He has entered into a consent judgment to repay $6,263,990 to five title companies that were left holding the (empty) bag. His lawyer, Anthony Alfano, says the plea amount is lower than the civil judgment as a result of negotiations with the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.

Alfano, also a Lyndhurst solo, says Rumore has a gambling addiction and was already $150,000 in the hole before he began stealing. "Every penny went from this trust account to his business account to Atlantic City."

Deputy Attorney General Francine Ehrenberg prosecuted the case.