Georgia Accepts Voluntary Petition For Sanction

The Georgia Supreme Court has accepted a previously-rejected petition for voluntary discipline and imposed a sanction less than disbarment

The now-expanded record shows the following. In October 2017, Rigdon was indicted in Tift County on a total of 13 counts for drug-related offenses, including eight counts of felony violation of the GCSA by possessing a controlled substance, see OCGA § 16-13- 30 (a)1; one count of conspiracy to violate the GCSA, see OCGA § 16-13-33; one count of possession of a dangerous drug, see OCGA § 16-13-70 et seq.; and three counts of crossing guard lines with drugs, see OCGA § 42-5-15. The 35-count indictment also charged seven other defendants, one of whom appears to have been the primary dealer of the drugs. Upon being indicted, Rigdon voluntarily stopped practicing law, timely notified his clients of his inability to continue their representation, and refunded any unearned fees.

Rigdon pled guilty to the eight controlled-substance-possession counts, with the State agreeing to nolle pros the remaining five charges; he was sentenced under OCGA § 16-13-2 (conditional discharge for possession of controlled substances as a first offense).

Among the dismissed charges

As the supplemental petition shows, the conspiracy charge arose from a text message that Rigdon sent to his dealer inquiring about buying some pills. The State agreed to nolle pros that count because it determined that Rigdon’s and his dealer’s conduct was “vastly different” and did not indicate a conspiracy. The crossing-guardlines charge stemmed from the police discovering drugs in Rigdon’s vehicle after he was arrested in the jail parking lot; the drugs were for his own use, and he did not take them into the jail. One of the pills discovered in his vehicle was a Viagra pill, which was the basis for the dangerous-drugs count.

There was mitigation

Rigdon seeks the same disciplinary sanction that he requested in his original petition. Having considered the additional factual information now in the record as well as the significant mitigating circumstances, we agree that a lengthy suspension with conditions on reinstatement is consistent with the purposes of the Bar disciplinary process, see In the Matter of Nicholson, 243 Ga. 803, 807 (257 SE2d 195) (1979), and consistent with sanctions imposed in similar circumstances involving Rule 8.4 (a) (2) violations.

Sanction

Accordingly, we accept the petition for voluntary discipline and direct that Rigdon be suspended from the practice of law in Georgia for 36 months from January 10, 2019, the date of his convictions, or until the termination of his probation, whichever is longer.

(Mike Frisch)