SAN FRANCISCO (Northern California Record) – Hemet attorney Sean James Ballard was summarily disbarred in February following a California Supreme Court decision and his money laundering conviction last year, according to a notification recently issued by The State Bar of California.
The high court issued its disbarment order on Jan. 4 and Ballard's effective disbarment date was Feb. 3, according to a notification provided to the Northern California Record earlier this week.
"Ballard’s underlying offenses involve fraud, and crimes involving intent to deceive or defraud are unquestionably moral turpitude," the four-page State Bar Court recommendation of summary disbarment issued Sept. 25 said. "Accordingly, Ballard's conviction qualifies him for summary disbarment."
Because of the conviction, Ballard was not entitled to a state bar court hearing to determine whether he could receive a lesser discipline, and he did not respond to a state bar request for summary disbarment, according to the recommendation.
Ballard was admitted to the bar in California on Nov. 27, 1992, according to his profile on the state bar website. Ballard had no prior discipline before the state bar, according to his profile.
Ballard was arrested in September 2017 on money laundering and grand theft charges.
In March 2018, Ballard was convicted on 17 counts of money laundering and a single count of grand theft.
The following month, the office of chief trial counsel transmitted evidence of Ballard's conviction and in May the state bar court placed Ballard on interim suspension, effective June 4, pending final disposition of his proceeding.
In August, the office of chief trial counsel transmitted evidence of finality of Ballard's conviction.
"The certified docket shows that no party has filed a timely notice of appeal within the statutory period following entry of the judgment," the recommendation said. "Therefore, the conviction is final."