Former Judge Disbarred For Marijuana Selling Conspiracy Conviction
A recent decision of the Tennessee Supreme Court is reported on the web page of the Board of Professional Responsibility
Effective January 17, 2025, the Supreme Court of Tennessee disbarred Perry Lee Stout from the practice of law.
Mr. Stout was temporarily suspended by the Supreme Court of Tennessee on February 28, 2024, after pleading guilty to a serious crime. The Court ordered the Board of Professional Responsibility to institute formal proceedings to determine the extent of final discipline to be imposed on Mr. Stout.
On January 17, 2024, Mr. Stout signed a plea agreement in Johnson County Circuit Court admitting to the commission of two (2) felonies: (1) Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Sell not less than ten (10) or more than seventy (70) pounds of marijuana, a Schedule VI controlled substance, and (2) Money Laundering. Mr. Stout entered guilty pleas to these offenses two days later and was sentenced to an effective eight (8) year sentence for these crimes on May 2, 2024.
Mr. Stout entered into a conspiracy in 2022 to sell illegal drugs in a tri-state region, which included Johnson County. While an attorney and later as an elected General Sessions Judge, Mr. Stout invested in the purchase of illegal drugs and participated in illegal drug trafficking with the intent to sell or deliver the drugs in the Johnson County region.
The Hearing Panel found that Mr. Stout knowingly violated the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct, to wit: 8.4 (a), (b), (c), and (d) (misconduct).
WJHL 11 reported
In its disbarment order, the court noted that as a judge, Stout was able to learn investigative information about crime and prospective criminals when law enforcement officers sought warrants or otherwise interacted with him.
“As part of the marijuana purchase and sale process, Mr. Stout had identified a code word which would be used to warn his accomplice of when law enforcement might be taking action of which the accomplice would benefit from being aware,” the order states.
Evidence presented during the hearing indicated Stout’s actions “had an adverse effect upon the Johnson County community as a whole, including a loss of confidence in the legal process within Johnson County.”
The order also mentioned the fact that as a juvenile judge who was also dealing marijuana, “Mr. Stout’s trafficking of a controlled substance could easily have resulted in juveniles appearing before him on matters which included possession, use, or further distribution of the same controlled substance which Mr. Stout’s illegal business venture brought into the State of Tennessee and Johnson County.”
(Mike Frisch)