Predator Prosecutor Disbarred Twice

The web page of the Colorado Presiding Disciplinary Judge has a summary of a consent disbarment

Morel served as the elected prosecutor of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, from 1979 to 2012. He then became an Assistant District Attorney in the Office of the District Attorney for St. Charles Parish, a position in which he served until January 11, 2013. During his tenure in that office, Morel solicited sex from individuals who were defendants or who had family members who were defendants in the St. Charles Parish criminal justice system. While soliciting sex from these individuals, Morel used the Office of the District Attorney to provide benefits to the individuals, including by falsifying community service reports. He also harassed a particular individual who was facing criminal charges in his jurisdiction; he attempted to prevent and dissuade her from attending or testifying before a federal grand jury proceeding by telling her to destroy evidence and to lie; and he asked her to conceal information that might have led to her being a witness before a grand jury.

The attorney pleaded guilty to a federal obstruction of justice and permanently resigned from the Bar of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

The Times Picayune reported that he was sentenced to a three-year prison term.

It was an unusually stiff penalty, as maximum punishment is rare in federal court for first-time offenders. Engelhardt, whom President George W. Bush appointed to the bench, also fined Morel $20,000, well short of the maximum of $250,000, and ordered him to serve a year of probation after his release from prison.

Morel was St. Charles’ top prosecutor for 33 years. He admitted his guilt in April after a three-year federal inquiry into whether he solicited sexual favors from women in exchange for help on cases pending in Louisiana’s 29th Judicial District Court. Authorities labeled Morel a “sexual predator” and said his pattern of misconduct in office spanned 20 years and included at least 20 women.

Although not charged with trading sex for official help, Morel admitted as part of his plea bargain agreement that he solicited sex from defendants and others with pending court cases. He formally pleaded guilty to harassing a woman who was a witness before the grand jury that was investigating him. In May, the Louisiana Supreme Court stripped Morel of his law license, barring him from practice for life.

(Mike Frisch)