Attorney spared disbarment

Thursday, July 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A prominent Reno lawyer who pleaded guilty last year to money laundering involving an international drug-smuggling ring will get a chance to resume his law practice.

The Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the recommendation that Jack Sullivan Grellman be disbarred.

The high court said the 16 months that Grellman has been suspended from practicing law "is sufficient to ensure against any repetition of the misconduct at issue and to maintain public trust and confidence in the bar as a whole."

Grellman was placed on four years probation, fined $5,000 and ordered to perform 150 hours of community service after his guilty plea. A co-defendant, San Francisco attorney Patrick Hallinan, was acquitted after trial.

Grellman, 57, pleaded guilty in January 1995, the day jury selection started in his trial on racketeering and other drug-related charges. In exchange for the guilty plea, federal prosecutors dropped other counts of racketeering and drug violations.

He was charged with aiding a $140 million international marijuana-smuggling ring headed by Squaw Valley, Calif., developer Ciro Wayne Mancuso. He admitted that he performed legal services for properties involved in illegal activities, that he lied to Internal Revenue Service agents and obstructed the investigation by removing documents from a file.

The Northern Nevada Disciplinary Board of the State Bar recommended in August 1995 that Grellman be disbarred. But the court said, "We conclude that the 16-month period that Grellman has already been precluded from the practice of law has adequately served the objectives of bar disciplinary proceedings."

The court said the offense was an "isolated incident in an otherwise exemplary 25-year professional career." Grellman had no prior disciplinary actions against him.

His past record, said the court, "clearly mitigate against the sanction of disbarment." Grellman surrendered his license to practice law in March 1995.

He now will be able to apply for reinstatement, but the court said it will be another six months before the process is completed and Grellman is able to return to practice.