Judge orders disbarment of convicted lawyer Aguilar

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has ordered the disbarment of convicted lawyer Danilo T. Aguilar from practicing law in federal court.

In an order issued Tuesday, Manglona directed the district court’s clerk to strike Aguilar’s name from the roll of admitted attorneys of the District Court bar.

“Prior to any readmission to practice law before the District Court, Mr. Aguilar shall show that he has been readmitted to practice law in Guam and the CNMI, and has satisfied any and all other terms and conditions of any judgments of the Guam and CNMI courts,” Manglona said.

The district court issued an order on Sept. 16, 2010, for Aguilar to show cause why he should not be disbarred, giving him 30 days to do so.

The order came about after the district court received a copy of a judgment from the District Court of Guam showing that Aguilar had been convicted of two felonies, and a copy of an order by the Guam Supreme Court suspending him from the practice of law.

Manglona said that, on Sept. 23, 2010, Aguilar confirmed with the district court his two convictions and his summary suspension from practice in Guam. At that time, Manglona said, Aguilar did not request a show-cause hearing.

In addition, Manglona said she has received a copy of Superior Court associate judge David A. Wiseman’s order that disbars Aguilar from the practice of law in CNMI courts and strikes his name from the CNMI Bar’s roll of admitted attorneys.

Wiseman ordered Aguilar’s disbarment due to his conviction in Guam of two felony counts of money laundering.

“The court believes that Mr. Aguilar’s misconduct has resulted in serious injuries to the legal profession, many former clients, to the public, and to the legal system in general and finds that the appropriate discipline is disbarment,” Wiseman said in his six-page order.

The U.S. government had charged Aguilar with taking $184,947.49 in proceeds from a fraudulent Citibank cashier’s check. The prosecution learned that Aguilar had responded to an email solicitation, which turned out to be part of an international Internet fraud scheme from Hong Kong that targets attorneys.

Aguilar pleaded guilty in September 2010 and was sentenced to 60 months of probation, full payment of restitution, among other terms and conditions.

Wiseman found that when Aguilar was convicted in Guam, he abandoned his law office, clients, and their files on Saipan.

The Commonwealth Disciplinary Rules provide that a disbarred attorney cannot apply for readmission until five years after his disbarment.