Title: The Florida Bar v. Carbonaro
Citation: 464 So. 2d 549
Docket Number: 64228
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: February 21, 1985

464 So. 2d 549 (1985)
THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant,
v.
Joseph L. CARBONARO, Respondent.
No. 64228.

Supreme Court of Florida.
February 21, 1985.
*550 John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director and John T. Berry, Staff Counsel, Tallahassee, and Richard B. Liss, Bar Counsel, Fort Lauderdale, for complainant.
Nicholas R. Friedman of Bassett, Friedman &amp; Miller, Miami, for respondent.
ADKINS, Justice.
This attorney discipline proceeding is before us on the complaint of The Florida Bar and the report of the referee. The Florida Bar has petitioned for review pursuant to article XI, Rule 11.09(1) of the Integration Rule of The Florida Bar. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 15, Fla. Const.
On August 13, 1982, the respondent, Joseph L. Carbonaro, entered a plea of guilty, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, to the felony charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute quantities of cocaine. The court found him guilty of this offense and placed him on probation for four years, withholding imposition of a sentence of confinement.
On September 12, 1983, The Florida Bar filed a formal complaint against the respondent. A referee was appointed and a hearing was held.
The referee recommended that respondent be found guilty of violating Florida Bar Code of Professional Responsibility, DR 1-102(A)(1), 1-102(A)(3), and 1-102(A)(6) and Florida Bar Integration Rule, article XI, Rule 11.02(3)(a) and (b). The referee recommended, as a disciplinary sanction, that respondent be suspended for a period of three years, effective August 13, 1983, and continuing thereafter until proof of rehabilitation.
In determining to recommend suspension rather than disbarment, the referee considered the following factors:
The Florida Bar now petitions this Court to review the referee's recommended discipline. The bar argues that the referee's recommended discipline is too lenient and *551 that disbarment, rather than the disciplinary sanction of suspension is more appropriate.
This Court has established three criteria for determining the proper disciplinary sanction to be imposed against attorneys in action brought pursuant to article XI of the Integration Rule of The Florida Bar.
The Florida Bar v. Lord, 433 So. 2d 983, 986 (Fla. 1983). The circumstances justifying the disciplinary sanction of disbarment were articulated in The Florida Bar v. Moore, 194 So. 2d 264, 271 (Fla. 1966), where this Court stated that:
The referee below found that the stigma of disbarment would be a burden on the respondent which is not necessary in this case to encourage reformation or rehabilitation, nor would it result in any greater protection of the public than would a three-year suspension. We agree. Based upon the evidence and the referee's findings of mitigating factors and the respondent's demonstrated potential for rehabilitation, we approve the findings and recommendations of the referee.
Accordingly, respondent, Joseph L. Carbonaro, is hereby suspended for a period of three years, effective August 13, 1983, and continuing thereafter until proof of rehabilitation.
Judgment for costs in the amount of $1,425.74 is hereby entered against respondent for which sum let execution issue.
It is so ordered.
BOYD, C.J., and McDONALD and SHAW, JJ., concur.
EHRLICH, J., dissents with an opinion, in which OVERTON and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur.
EHRLICH, Justice, dissenting.
I am unable to distinguish the facts of this case from those in The Florida Bar v. Wilson, 425 So. 2d 2 (Fla. 1983), in which we disbarred the attorney. I adhere to the philosophy expressed in Wilson and would apply it here to disbar respondent.
OVERTON and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur.