Crossing The Line
The Georgia Supreme Court has imposed reciprocal disbarment based on the like sanction imposed in Alabama
A review of the record, which includes copies of the Supreme Court of Alabama’s disciplinary proceedings and the “Report and Order” of the Disciplinary Board of the Alabama State Bar, reveals that on September 19, 2023, the Alabama State Bar formally charged Jones with violating several provisions of the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct (ARPC). The Alabama State Bar alleged that, in March 2023, Jones was arrested for smuggling prison contraband to an inmate, possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, possession of MDMA with the intent to distribute, possession of hydrocodone with the intent to distribute, and crossing the guard line. During a police interview, Jones admitted to smuggling drugs and other contraband to inmates while meeting with them as their attorney, stating that he was paid $500 by a third party to do so. Additionally, Jones admitted that he had smuggled contraband and drugs on multiple occasions. On April 6, 2023, the Alabama State Bar mailed a letter to Jones’s address on file advising him that a discipline file had been opened concerning his arrest and instructing him to submit a written response. The Alabama State Bar also tried to contact Jones via email to obtain a written response on March 31, April 6, April 18, and April 25, 2023, and tried to reach Jones by telephone on several occasions. Jones did not respond to the letter, emails, or calls. The Alabama State Bar also contacted Jones’s criminal defense attorney, who informed the Alabama State Bar that Jones did not plan to practice law in the future and that he was aware of its efforts to contact him. However, Jones never responded to the Alabama State Bar’s allegations. Based on these facts, the Alabama State Bar alleged that Jones violated ARPC Rules 8.1(b),3 8.4(b),4 and 8.4(g).
The record further indicates that on February 7, 2024, the Alabama State Bar served Jones by publication, and on March 19, 2024, filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law after Jones failed to respond. The following day, the Alabama Disciplinary Board granted the motion, such that Jones was deemed to have admitted the allegations set forth by the Alabama State Bar. The record also includes a transcript of an evidentiary hearing on aggravating and mitigating factors and the appropriate sanction before the Alabama Disciplinary Board, which Jones failed to attend. Ultimately, in its Report and Order, the Alabama Disciplinary Board reiterated the conduct and ARPC violations Jones had admitted by virtue of the judgment as a matter of law and recommended disbarment.
On our careful review of the record, we agree that Jones’s conduct — which includes his admission that, on multiple occasions, he smuggled drugs and other contraband to inmates while meeting with them as their attorney and was paid $500 by a third party to do so, and his failure to notify the Georgia State Bar of his disbarment in Alabama — would violate Rules 8.4(a)(4) and 9.1(a)(3). We further agree that disbarment is the appropriate sanction in this matter.
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported on the matter
Cocaine, ecstasy, hydrocodone, iPhones, tobacco and cigarette rolling papers.
Those were among the items local defense attorney Allen C. Jones smuggled to a murder suspect being held in the Muscogee County Jail, a sheriff’s investigator testified Friday in Muscogee Municipal Court…
Questioned in court by District Attorney Stacey Jackson, Investigator Michael O’Keefe said Jones was observed from the time he left his car in the jail parking lot Wednesday to meet for six minutes with the inmate in an interview room until his departure. Authorities then strip-searched the inmate, finding five envelopes Jones had delivered, he said.
Inside the envelopes, investigators found 18.7 grams of what they initially thought was methamphetamine, but turned out to be cocaine, O’Keefe said. They also discovered 10 tablets of ecstasy, three hydrocodone pills and seven strips of paper soaked with a substance believed to be a drug, but yet to be identified, he said.
They also found five new iPhones in their original plastic packaging, plus the tobacco and rolling papers, he said. They got warrants for Jones and arrested him in Columbus on Thursday, O’Keefe said.
O’Keefe said the inmate Jones met was not his client, which aroused suspicion. Neither O’Keefe nor Jackson would identify the inmate, though the district attorney said after court that he is a murder suspect. O’Keefe said his name is being withheld to ensure his safety inside the jail.
(Mike Frisch)