He went from the front page to the crime blotter.
A Staten Island lawyer reached a career high when he starred on the cover of The Post for challenging another attorney to a “Game of Thrones”-style trial-by-combat duel — then hit rock bottom when he appeared in the paper again as a criminal, his attorney said Thursday.
Richard Luthmann’s attorney cited his epic fall from grace on the pages of this paper as punishment enough as he argued in Brooklyn federal court that his client should serve no more time behind bars despite pleading guilty to fraud and extortion.
“He went from being on the cover of the New York Post for being a brilliant litigator,” to getting “destroyed” in future coverage, said Arthur Aidala.
“That’s part of the punishment,” Aidala added. “From being the hero of the New York Post to [a] tragic person in the New York Post.”
Luthmann, 39, in 2015 posed with a sword and shield for The Post’s front page after he demanded his “common-law right to Trial By Combat” in a beef with another lawyer and his clients.
But he appeared in the paper for a very different reason two years later when he was arrested in connection with a scrap metal business accused of selling people bogus metal — and collecting debts at gunpoint in Luthmann’s law office.
Luthmann took a plea deal in March, including an admission that he sent a threatening letter to a potential witness he believed was cooperating with the feds.
He has been locked up since.
At the time of the scheme, the former attorney was drinking “a handle” — a little less than half a gallon — of scotch daily as well as using cocaine, Aidala said.
Luthmann told the court he was also suffering from undiagnosed bipolar disorder and has since been receiving mental health treatment.
“I self medicated with alcohol and drugs,” he said. “Somewhere along the way, I lost my wife.”
Luthmann and his attorney asked Judge Jack Weinstein that he be sentenced to time served.
But prosecutors want Luthmann to be locked up for between four and six years.
“This is not a case of an attorney who happened to represent the wrong person and got caught up in a scheme,” said Assistant US Attorney James McDonald.
“He joined what he thought was a very lucrative opportunity for himself.”
Luthmann is expected to be sentenced on Monday.