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Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Ind. Courts - Salem attorney peads guilty in drug case
Ben Zion Hershberg of the Louisville Courier Journal reports today:
A Salem lawyer who was arrested in New Albany while buying cocaine has pleaded guilty to possession of a narcotic.Allen Trent Thompson was charged with drug dealing and possession after his April 2003 arrest. Police said the transaction took place in a State Street parking lot.
But he pleaded guilty in Floyd Superior Court Monday only to possession of a gram of cocaine, a Class D felony. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 29. * * *
Thompson could face up to three years in prison on the possession charge.
Mike McDaniel, Thompson's lawyer, said he will attempt at the sentencing hearing to show that his client has made a significant change in his lifestyle since his arrest. He said he hopes the evidence will show his client shouldn't go to jail.
"He's a fine fellow," McDaniel said, adding that Thompson has complied fully with the requirements of a drug-treatment program for lawyers.
"He has been tested every week" for drugs, McDaniel said.
Thompson has maintained his legal practice, and McDaniel said Thompson hopes he will be able to continue it.
"His law license is at issue," McDaniel said.
He said Superior Court Judge Susan Orth can rule at the sentencing hearing that Thompson is guilty only of a misdemeanor. If she does, McDaniel said he hopes the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission will allow Thompson to keep his license.
Donald Lundgren, executive secretary of the disciplinary commission, said he is required to file information about lawyers' convictions with the Supreme Court.
The court has discretion to revoke the license of a lawyer who has pleaded guilty to a felony, even if a trial court ultimately sentences him for a misdemeanor.
Lundgren said he couldn't remember a case in which the Supreme Court didn't impose some form of discipline on a lawyer convicted of a felony.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 28, 2006 06:04 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts