D.C.-area criminal defense lawyer Navron Ponds was disbarred by the D.C. Court of Appeals yesterday, marking the latest chapter in disciplinary proceedings that began in 2002.
In 2003, Ponds was sentenced to 20 months in prison for five felony and two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion. But after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the government had improperly used an immunity agreement against him, Ponds pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion. In 2007, he was sentenced to 36 months probation.
Ponds was suspended from practicing law in the District in 2002, pending the D.C. Court of Appeals' final decision on whether his misdemeanor tax evasion convictions warranted disbarment. But after a federal court in Maryland stripped Ponds of his license in the wake of a contempt conviction, the decision based on the misdemeanor convictions became moot, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. Last month, Ponds' license in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was stripped on similar grounds.
Ponds has also had reciprocal disbarments imposed against him in Pennsylvania and New York.
Ponds could not be reached for comment.
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Posted by: seattle criminal attorney | November 30, 2009 at 02:30 PM