from staff
Atlantic Beach attorney Michael Berry has been suspended by the Florida Supreme Court for one year, effective retroactive to Oct. 1, 2007, following an April 10 court order. In 2004, Berry — who was admitted to practice in 1994 — was retained by a client for a contract dispute regarding commercial property. In several instances, Berry neglected to inform the client of the status of the case, nor did he inform the client of filings or provide copies of the filings. He also failed to appear for court hearings and inform his clients of them, and neglected to respond in writing to official inquiries.
In other recent court orders, the Supreme Court disciplined 34 attorneys overall, disbarring 12, suspending 13 others and placing three on probation. Seven attorneys were reprimanded and four were ordered to pay restitution. Some attorneys received more than one form of discipline.
The following lawyers are disciplined:
• Marc Francis Desiderio of Fort Lauderdale, disbarred, retroactive to Oct. 22, 2007, following an April 3 court order. In January 2006, Desiderio was indicted by a federal grand jury. In July 2007 he pled guilty to money laundering conspiracy. Desiderio was sentenced to 41 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release.
• Tricia-Ann Abigail Blair of Miami, disbarred, effective 30 days from an April 10 court order. Blair represented a client in the sale of property in Georgia and accepted $34,000 as a deposit. She then disbursed a portion of the funds to her client and a broker despite the fact that no closing took place and there was no transfer of title. Blair has since failed to provide complete trust account records and failed to account for the balance of the funds.
• Kristine W. Valentine-Miller of Ocala, disbarred following a Jan. 10 court order. In June 2006, Valentine-Miller was suspended on an emergency basis, and in October, 2006, The Florida Bar filed an amended complaint against her, alleging more than 20 violations. Valentine-Miller is accused of using client funds and failing to manage her accounts properly. During 2004 and 2005, she neglected numerous clients by failing to diligently pursue their cases. Her poor record-keeping and maintenance of files, many of which are missing, made it impossible to determine the exact total of client funds converted. An audit by The Florida Bar for February 2004 to February 2006 determined that the total owed clients was no less than $31,416.41 and no more than $51.291.41.
• Jerry Arthur Riggs Sr. of Hollywood, disbarred, retroactive to May 7, 2005, following an April 17 court order. Riggs must also pay restitution of $2,000 to one client. In March 2006, Riggs was hired by a client for a real estate case, and was paid $2,000. In April 2005, Riggs was suspended from practicing law on an emergency basis in a separate matter. Riggs continued to practice law and neglected to immediately furnish his clients, opposing counsel and the courts with a copy of his suspension order. As of the effective date of his suspension, Riggs had also failed to perform the services for which he was paid.
• Robert Alvarez Rudolph of Miami, disbarred, effective immediately, following a March 6 court order. Rudolph will also pay restitution of $2,500 to one client. In June 2005, Rudolph was paid $2,500 by a couple as a retainer to file a post-conviction motion. In November of the same year, Rudolph spoke with the clients and told them that a post conviction motion was being finalized and would be filed shortly. It was never filed. The clients made numerous requests for Rudolph to provide billing invoices, but Rudolph neglected to do so. He has a past discipline history of three admonishments and two suspensions.
• Stephen Leonard Ziegler of Fort Lauderdale, disbarred effective immediately, following an April 24 court order. In September 2007, Ziegler was found guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, a felony. Ziegler was sentenced to 60 months in prison and three years probation. He was ordered by the trial court to pay restitution of $826,839,642.
• Dominic G. Bocco Jr. of Orlando, disbarred effective immediately, following an April 3 court order. In two separate cases, Bocco represented clients in personal injury cases. In both instances, Bocco received settlement money on behalf of the clients, but neglected to disburse the money as directed. An audit revealed that Bocco improperly commingled client funds with his own funds. Bocco also failed to provide a required written response to The Florida Bar regarding the cases.
• Martin James Hannah of Coral Springs, disbarred, effective 30 days from an April 24 court order. Hannah has repeatedly failed to comply with Florida Bar rules, made false statements and engaged in deceptive practices. Since 2001, he misappropriated trust account funds and used the property of others for his own benefit. Hannah also engaged in a pattern of neglecting clients and failing to respond to communications from The Florida Bar.
• Theodore William Herzog of Key West, disbarred, effective immediately, following an April 24 court order and ordered to pay restitution to all persons whose funds have been embezzled prior to seeking readmission. In September 2005, Herzog received $44,442.79 from a client to settle a labor dispute with 25 employees. He deposited the funds in his escrow account. Between October and December of that year, Herzog issued 19 checks from his client’s funds, made payable to himself, totaling $44,150.00 and leaving a balance of $114.55. Only two of his client’s employees were paid. An audit of Herzog’s records found similar occurrences involving numerous other clients.
• Michael T. Kovach Sr. of Inverness, disbarred for 10 years, effective immediately, following an April 24 order. Kovach intentionally converted client funds for his personal use. Several transactions had no client identification associated with them and his wife, a non-lawyer, had signatory authority on the trust account. The overdrawn balance of Kovach’s ledger card totaled $77,968.12.
• Paul Richard Parker of Lynn Haven, permanently disbarred effective immediately, following a March 27 court order. In September 2007, Parker pled guilty to three felony counts of using a child in a sexual performance and 75 related counts of child pornography. He was sentenced to 14 years incarceration, to be followed by 14 years probation.
• Jeffrey George Paster of West Orange, N.J., disbarred effective immediately, following an April 24 court order. In March 2007, the Supreme Court of New Jersey disbarred Paster. One complainant accused Paster of failing to timely release trust funds. Another said Paster coerced her into loaning him $15,000 from her equitable distribution being held in his trust account. An investigative audit revealed that from March 2003 until August 2006, Paster misappropriated client funds for his own personal use.
• Richard Salvatore Amari of Merritt Island, suspended, effective 30 days from an April 10 court order. In 2005, Amari was arrested and later charged with driving under the influence and possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia. In 2007, Amari was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. In February, Amari pled guilty in both cases to drug possession, third-degree felonies and was sentenced to two years probation with drug offender conditions.
• Steven C. Blinn of Orlando, suspended until further order of the court, following a March 14 court order. The Florida Bar petition for emergency suspension states that in February, Blinn was arrested on multiple felony charges, including grand theft, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and sale and delivery of cocaine. In November 2007, the circuit court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit removed Blinn as guardian for a property worth more than $40,000 because he neglected his required duties. Between Dec. 27, 2007, and Feb. 5, 2008, the Bar received seven insufficient fund notices on Blinn’s trust account in which he testified that he had deposited the guardianship funds. On Feb. 25, the Bar received a complaint from a couple alleging that Blinn had provided them with a settlement check of $13,511.89 that was returned for insufficient funds.
• Anna L. Brown of Naples, suspended for 90 days, effective 30 days from a Jan. 17 court order. Two cousins charged with felonies visited Brown’s office together and signed retainer agreements presented to them by Brown’s paralegal. One of the men paid $700 and agreed to pay $250 a month until the $3,500 fee for his representation was paid. Brown actively represented one client but failed to diligently represent him or communicate with him. Brown accepted money from the other client, appeared in court and filed pleadings for him, but she never personally told him that another lawyer was representing him. Because the cousins’ interests were directly adverse, Brown’s representing both of them was improper.
• Marty Earl Davis of North Miami, suspended for 90 days, effective 30 days from an April 10 court order. Davis obtained a mortgage to refinance a personal residence. In several documents related to the purchase and the mortgage, Davis signed the name of a witness who was not present and did not authorize him to use his name. Davis also used the same individual’s notary stamp on one of the documents to verify his own signature, without consent.
• Joseph Sailor Garwood of Tallahassee, suspended effective 30 days from a May 6 court order. In December 2007, Garwood was found guilty by a jury of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony, battery, and resisting an officer without violence. He was sentenced to 24 months probation.
• Robert Joseph Locker of Tampa, suspended for 36 months, effective retroactive to Sept. 20, 2007, following an April 24 order. As a condition of reinstatement, Locker shall complete The Florida Bar’s Trust Accounting Workshop. Upon reinstatement, Locker will be placed on probation for three years. Twelve cases were consolidated in the complaint before the court. Locker essentially abandoned his practice, failing to appear for court dates. He successfully completed residential treatment for substance abuse and is now in aftercare. Locker entered into a three-year contract in February with the Florida Lawyers Assistance program.
• Scott Alan Salomon of Coral Springs, to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors, following an April 17 court order. Salomon pled guilty to failing to diligently represent his client. On numerous occasions, Salomon failed to appear at court proceedings for the client, even those he scheduled.
• Gary Mark Mills of Delray Beach, suspended, effective 30 days from a May 2 court order. Mills pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, a felony. In April, Mills was sentenced to 46 months in prison.
• Juan Carlos Perez of Miami, suspended for six months, effective immediately, following an April 17 court order. In September 2006, Perez was suspended for one year and ordered to accept no new business until the suspension expired. Despite the order from the Florida Supreme Court, Perez accepted new business in October 2006 and did not notify the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Osceola County of his impending suspension until more than one month later.
• Joseph Raymond Rowe Jr. of Tampa, suspended for 91 days, effective 30 days from an April 24 order. In March 2006 the Florida Supreme Court suspended Rowe for 30 days and placed him on probation for two years. Rowe was to attend ethics school within six months of the date of the order and to undergo an office procedures and record-keeping analysis under the direction of the Law Office Management Assistance Service of The Florida Bar. Rowe neglected to attend ethics school and failed to contact LOMAS to schedule a review.
• David Jon Russ of Gainesville, suspended effective immediately, following an April 10 court order. Russ was found guilty of a third- degree felony, driving under the influence — the third in 10 years, as well as three related misdemeanors. Russ is currently serving a three-year suspension as a result of another case.
• Steven M. Siegel of Hollywood, suspended effective 30 days from the date of a March 24 order. In February, in the circuit court of the 15th Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County), Siegel was found guilty of one count of attempt to seduce, solicit, lure or entice a child using an Internet service to commit a sexual offense, a felony.
• Carl K. Zolezzi, Jr. of Cape Canaveral, suspended for one year, effective retroactively to November 29, 2007, following an April 17 court order, and ordered to pay restitution of $2,500 to a client. In January 2006, Zolezzi was retained by a client regarding a criminal matter and paid $2,500. In February 2006, Zolezzi was arrested on charges of sale and possession of cocaine. Thereafter, Zolezzi performed minimal work on his client’s behalf. The client retained new counsel to handle the matter and requested a full refund. In September, Zolezzi pled no contest to felony cocaine possession.
• Ruben L. De Leon of Miami, suspended until further order of the court, following a March 18 court order. The Florida Bar petition for emergency suspension states that De Leon submitted 20 fraudulent final judgments for dissolution of marriage to a court. Twelve of the final judgments falsely purported to be signed by a particular judge. Three additional final judgments bore the forged signatures of three other judges and case numbers belonging to other matters. Several of the clients said they’d remitted fees to De Leon’s office, were subsequently advised by De Leon or an associate that their divorces were final and received proof of the final judgment of dissolution. All believed they were legally divorced.
• Alexander Osondu Akpodiete of Marabella, Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago, to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors, following an April 10 court order. Akpodiete failed to keep required minimum trust accounting records, which resulted in an overdrawn trust account. There is no evidence of missing client funds and no evidence of client harm as a result of Akpodiete’s actions in this case.
• Carol Cobourn Asbury of Boynton Beach, to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors, following an April 24 court order. Asbury was an escrow agent for a real estate deal that never closed. In August 2005, an attorney contacted Asbury requesting the release of a $100,000 deposit to his client. Asbury admitted that she had no knowledge of the $100,000 and she had not authorized a non-lawyer employee to write an escrow letter verifying receipt of the money. Asbury pled guilty to failure to properly supervise the employee and failure to respond to The Florida Bar’s inquiries regarding the case. She also failed to appear before The Florida Bar’s grievance committee and produce requested records.
• Vanessa Bravo of Miramar, to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors, following an April 10 court order. In July 2005, Bravo pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge of making improper campaign contributions. She donated $120 in the names of six different people on behalf of a county commission candidate. In a separate incident, Bravo was sanctioned by the Florida Elections Commission for certifying that her campaign treasurer’s reports were correct, when they were not; for incurring an expense without sufficient funds in her account; for accepting campaign contributions in excess of the legal limits; and for failing to report contributions that were required to be reported.
• Julio Cesar Cavero of Miami, to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors and placed on probation for three years, effective immediately, following an April 10 court order. Cavero pled guilty to failure to maintain minimum required records of deposits, original and canceled checks and other documentary support for the disbursement of trust fund accounts. Cavero also failed to reconcile the trust account monthly and annually and failed to provide a detailed annual list of discrepancies in the trust account. No misappropriations occurred.
• Isabel Vals Colleran of Miami, to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors and directed to attend a trust accounting workshop, following an April 10 court order. In August 2007, Colleran issued a check from her trust account to pay her Florida Bar dues. An audit of Colleran’s trust account revealed that she was commingling funds and using her trust account mostly for personal matters. No clients were harmed and no trust account funds were misappropriated.
• Edward Thomas Dinna of Fort Lauderdale, to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors and directed to attend a trust accounting workshop, following an April 10 court order. Dinna was selected to take over a malpractice case after the original attorney was suspended from practicing law. Dinna hired the suspended attorney to work for him as a paralegal on the case, but failed to properly supervise him. In another case, Dinna took the videotaped deposition of a confidential informant (without effectively notifying the state) and allowed the criminal defendant (his client) to be present in violation of The Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. He also attempted to intimidate the witnesses. Finally, Dinna failed to maintain required minimum trust accounting records.
• J. Gordon Blau of Altamonte Springs, placed on probation for one year, effective immediately, following a March 20 court order. Blau failed to enter into a rehabilitation contract with Florida Lawyers Assistance during his two-year probation ordered by the Florida Supreme Court in 2005.