Robert Roland’s legal career is over.
Legal Pad learned Friday that late last month the California Supreme Court ordered the former San Francisco prosecutor summarily disbarred.
Roland, a former assistant district attorney, was sentenced in June to six months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possessing Ecstasy with the intent to distribute. He was accused of trading drugs for leniency in court cases.
The Supreme Court’s decision, issued on March 28, followed the recommendation of State Bar Court Judge Ronald Stovitz. In his ruling in August, Stovitz declared Roland’s crime a felony involving moral turpitude.
“In his plea agreement,” Stovitz wrote, “Roland admitted that he knowingly possessed a controlled substance with the intent to deliver it.”
Roland, a graduate of University of San Francisco School of Law, became a lawyer on Dec. 2, 1999. Under State Bar rules, Roland won’t be eligible to seek reinstatement until April 2011.
The Supreme Court’s disbarment order can be seen here. The case is Roland on Discipline, S148500.
— Mike McKee
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