S. Ct. Civ. No.: 2012-0006

Upon consideration of a petition filed by the St. Croix Subcommittee of the Ethics and Grievance Committee of the Virgin Islands Bar Association alleging that the respondent attorney, a member of the Virgin Islands Bar Association, has violated several provisions of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and recommending his disbarment as an appropriate sanction, in light of the very serious nature of his ethical violations, based on his convictions for bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B) and two counts of obstruction of justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2), the Court concludes that the respondent attorney should be disbarred from the practice of law in the Virgin Islands in order to protect the public and the administration of justice from further professional wrongdoing. It is further held that the pendency of the respondent attorney's habeas corpus petition in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, which was filed shortly after the Supreme Court of the United States denied his petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review his criminal convictions, did not serve to automatically stay the disciplinary proceedings pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 203(b)(4) because it did not qualify as an "appeal" within the intendment of that Rule. The petition for disbarment is granted.