[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advanc e sheets, it may be cited as Cincinnati Bar Assn. v. Riggs-Horton, Slip Opinion No. 2019-Ohio-4739.]

NOTICE This slip opinion is subject to f ormal revision before it is pu blished in an advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports. Readers are reques ted to promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohi o, 65 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or other formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published.

S LIP O PINION N O
. 2019-O HIO -4739
C INCINNATI B AR A SSOCIATION v. R IGGS -H ORTON
. [Until this opinion appears in t he Ohio Official Reports advanc e sheets, it

may be cited as Cincinnati Bar Assn. v. Riggs-Horton, Slip Opinion No. 2019-Ohio-4739.] Attorneys—Misconduct—Violation of the Ru les of Professional Conduct, namely, committing an illegal act that reflects ad versely on a lawyer’s honesty or trustworthiness—Conditionally stayed six-month suspension. (No. 2018-1757—Submitted August 6, 2019—Decided November 20, 20 19.)
O N C ERTIFIED R EPORT by the Board of Professiona l Conduct of the Supreme Court, No. 2018-044.

_______________________ Per Curiam. {¶ 1} Respondent, Virginia M. Riggs- Horton, of Bellevue, Kentucky, Attorney Registration No. 0085302, w as admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in
2009. She is also admitted to the practice of law in Kentucky.S UPREME C OURT OF O HIO

2 {¶ 2} In a September 4, 2018 complaint, relator, Cincinnati Bar Association, charged Riggs-Hort on with professional misconduct arising from her misdemeanor conviction for promoting contraband at a detention center. The parties submitted stipulations of facts and misconduct and agre e that a fully stayed six-month suspension is the appr opriate sanction in this case. {¶ 3} The Board of Professional Conduct found that Riggs-Horton committed an illegal act that adve rsely reflected on her honest y or trustworthiness, recommended that a second allege d rule violation be dismissed, and agreed that a six-month suspension stayed in its entirety is the appropriate sanction for RiggsHorton’s misconduct. We adopt the board’s findings of miscondu ct and
recommended sanction.
Misconduct {¶ 4} In 2017, Riggs-Horton was in a romantic relationship with Gary Chandler. Chandler had been in and out of prison during the co urse of their relationship. {¶ 5} That August, Chandler was incarcerated in the Campbell County, Kentucky jail for a parole violation. Riggs-Horton talked to C handler on the phone daily, had personal visits with him at the jail twice a week, a nd visited him in her professional capacity as needed. During Chandler’s incarcerati on, he was moved
to the restricted-custod y section of the jail. {¶ 6} Riggs-Horton had never been to th e restricted-custody section b efore she made her first professional visit to Chandler there on Augu st 19, 2017 . At the time of her visit, she was not aware of the facility’s rules—on e of which specified that money could be given to a prisoner only through a guard. During that visit, Chandler asked Riggs-Horton whether she could give him some cas h to purchase items from the facility’s vending machines and stated that he w as allowed to have up to $100 in $1 and $5 bills. Riggs-Horton replied that she h ad only two $5 bills and a $1 bill, and Chandler instructed her to hand him the mone y under the table.January Term, 2019

3 He explained that he would not receive the money for several da ys if it went through the proper channels. Video surveillance showed Riggs-Horton pa ssing something
to Chandler under the table. {¶ 7} After the meeting, guards sear ched Chandler for contraband and discovered smokeless tobacco but did not find the cash that Rig gs-Horton had given him. Riggs-Horton was detained upon her return to the jail a f ew days later and was later charged with a vio lation of Ky.Rev.Stat.Ann. 520.060( 1)(a), which provides, “A person is guilty of promoting contraband in the se cond degree when he knowingly introduces contraba nd into a detention facility or a penitentiary.” {¶ 8} Riggs-Horton denied passing Chandler smokeless tobacco but admitted that she had passed him contraband in the form of $11. Through counsel, Riggs-Horton proposed that she be permitted to enter into a div ersion program on conditions, including that she perform community service, offer a free divorce clinic to inmates at the jail, voluntarily suspend her criminal practice for three months, and make certain dona tions of cash and law books in lie u of pleading guilty to the charged offens e. The warden, however, insisted that she be prosecuted. {¶ 9} Riggs-Horton pleaded guilty to the charged offense and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, which was discharged for two yea rs on conditions, including that she commit no other offenses, have no further co ntact with the Campbell County jail, and pay costs and fees of $165. She self -reported her conviction to relator and to the Kentucky disciplinary authorit y. Kentucky has held her disciplinary case in abeyanc e pending the resolution of thi s proceeding. {¶ 10} Riggs-Horton admitted that she c ommitted the charged misconduct

. The board agreed that she vio lated Prof.Cond.R. 8.4(b) (prohib iting a lawyer from committing an illegal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer ’s honesty or trustworthiness) but recommended that we dismiss another allege d violation because the facts presented were insufficient to establish the misconduct by clear and convincing evidence. We adopt the board’s finding that Rig gs-Horton violatedS UPREME C OURT OF O HIO

4 Prof.Cond.R. 8.4(b) by passing cont raband to Chandler while he was incarcerated in the Campbell County jail, and we dismiss the second violatio n alleged in relator’s complaint.
Sanction {¶ 11} When imposing sanctions for atto rney misconduct, we consider al l relevant factors, including the e thical duties that the lawyer violated, the aggravating and mitigating factors listed in Gov.Bar R. V(13), and the sanctions imposed in similar cases. {¶ 12} Six mitigating factors are present: the absence of a prior disc iplinary record, the absence of a dishonest or selfish motive, Riggs-Hor ton’s good-faith offer to make restitution as part of a diversion program, her f ull and free disclosure to the board and cooperative a ttitude toward the disciplinary p roceedings, evidence of her good character and reputa tion in the community, and the imposition of
criminal sanctions for her conduct. See Gov.Bar R. V(13)(C)(1) through (6). No aggravating factors are present. See Gov.Bar R. V(13)(B). {¶ 13} The board recommends that Riggs-H orton be suspended from the practice of law for six months, all stayed on the condition tha t she engage in no
further misconduct. We have im posed that sanction for comparab le violations of Prof.Cond.R. 8.4(b) in at least two cases involving misdemeanor convictions and similar mitigating factors. For example, in Cincinnati Bar Assn. v. Glaser , 146 Ohio St.3d 102, 2016-Ohio-3052, 52 N.E.3d 1186, the attorney ha d been convicted of attempting to permit drug abuse on her premises. Mitigating factors included no prior discipline, a cooperative attitude toward the disciplinar y process, selfreporting of misconduct, and severa l character references. And in Disciplinary
Counsel v. Grubb , 142 Ohio St.3d 521, 2015-Ohio-1349, 33 N.E.3d 40, the attorne y had been convicted of complicity to commit worker’s compensatio n fraud for providing funds to a client while that client was receiving tem porary-total-disability benefits. Mitigating factors in that case included no prior di scipline, cooperationJanuary Term, 2019

5 in the disciplinary process, payment of restitution, and eviden ce of the attorney’s good character and reputation. {¶ 14} After a review of the record, we agree that a stayed six-month suspension is the appropriate san ction for Riggs-Horton’s viola tion of Prof.Cond.R. 8.4(b). {¶ 15} Accordingly, Virginia M. Riggs-Horton is suspended from the practice of law in Ohio for six months, all stayed on the condi tion that she engage in no further misconduct. If she fails to comply with the cond ition of the stay, the stay will be lifted and she will serve the full six-month suspe nsion. Costs are taxed to Riggs-Horton. Judgment accordingly.
O’C ONNOR , C.J., and K ENNEDY , F RENCH , F ISCHER , D E W INE , D ONNELLY , and S TEWART , JJ., concur.

_________________ Beckman Weil Shepardson, L.L.C., and Kristen M. Myers; Jennifer K. Nordstrom; and Edwin W. Patterson III, Bar Counsel, for relator

. Virginia M. Riggs-Horton, pro se.

_________________