Opinion ID: 2182717
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Funk's Criminal Conduct

Text: In the Petition for Discipline filed with the Board by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Funk was charged with violating Rule 8.4(b) of the Delaware Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct (commission of a criminal act that reflects adversely on a lawyer's honesty and fitness). The disciplinary charge arose out of a federal court felony indictment that resulted in Funk's guilty plea, conviction, and incarceration in March 1998. The allegations in the Petition for Discipline are set forth, in pertinent part, as follows: 1. Joseph E. Funk, Esq. is a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware, having been admitted to practice in 1980. 2. At all times relevant, [Funk] was engaged in the private practice of law in the State of Delaware. 3. From on or about August 12, 1997 and continuing through on or about August 27, 1997, in the State and District of Delaware, Funk, an unlawful user of a controlled substance, marijuana, did knowingly possess ... a Beretta Model 92FS firearm. 4. From on or about July 1, 1997 and continuing through on or about August 27, 1997, ... Funk ... did knowingly possess ... fourteen (14) firearms. 5. From on or about August 26, 1997 and continuing through on or about August 27, 1997, Funk did knowingly possess marijuana, a Schedule I non-narcotic substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 844(a). 6. From on or about August 7, 1997 and continuing through on or about August 12, 1997, Funk, in connection with the acquisition of a firearm from a licensed firearms dealer, willfully induced and procured an unnamed person to knowingly state that he, the unnamed person, was the purchaser of the firearm. This action constituted a false statement intended and likely to deceive the firearms dealer with respect to a fact material to the lawfulness of the sale of the firearm, that fact being the true identity of the purchaser of the firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(a)(6) and Title 18, United States Code, Section 2. 7. In connection with the foregoing acts, [Funk] was criminally charged with violations of Title 28, United States Code, Section 922(g)(3) (felony possession of a firearm or firearms by a prohibited user); Title 21, United States Code, Section 844(a) (possession of a controlled substance); and Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(a)(6) (making false statement or misrepresentation of identity in sale of firearm). 8. On March, 11 1998, on his plea of guilty to Count 1 of the federal indictment, [Funk] was convicted of a single count of felony possession of a firearm by a prohibited user in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(3).... The remaining charges were dismissed pursuant to the plea agreement accepted on November 17, 1997. [Funk] was thereafter sentenced to seventeen (17) months incarceration in a federal correctional institution, and to a period of supervised release for three (3) years, during which time Funk was required to participate in a drug and alcohol after-care treatment program. 9. The federal conviction for felony possession of a firearm by a prohibited user constitutes a serious crime under Rule 16(c) and is conclusive on the issue of a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Funk did not file an answer to the Petition for Discipline. Therefore, the charge set forth in the Petition for Discipline was deemed admitted, pursuant to Board Rule 9(d).