Did you ever notice that the SLOT BARN that sucks law-abiding citizens into GAMBLING ADDICTION is not always named?
And the SLOT BARN gets to keep the $$$?
She used campaign donations to support a gambling addiction
Posted: Friday, September 12, 2014 5:07 pm
LINCOLN — Former State Sen. Brenda Council lost her license to practice law Friday after the Nebraska Supreme Court disbarred her for using campaign donations to support a gambling addiction.
The high court’s decision to impose its highest sanction on Council came after a court referee who reviewed the case recommended a temporary suspension and probation. In a written judgment released Friday, the court said a lesser punishment would fail to reinforce the higher standard to which lawyers and elected officials are held.
“By misappropriating the funds entrusted to her as a public officer and covering up that misappropriation with misrepresentations, respondent violated the public trust and abused her office,” the court wrote. “Such abuse of public office by an attorney ‘can suggest an inability to fulfill the professional role of lawyers.’ ”
Council, 60, of Omaha, can seek reinstatement as a lawyer in five years. The Supreme Court must consider such applications, although it rarely grants reinstatement.
Messages left with Council Friday morning were not immediately returned. Her lawyer, Vince Powers of Lincoln, said she was disappointed but accepted the court’s decision.
“Brenda Council very much regrets what happened,” Powers said. “She recognizes it’s 100 percent on her. It’s her responsibility. It’s no one else’s fault.”
Powers said Council is employed and is moving on with her life. He declined to say what she is doing professionally, but he emphasized she remains committed to treatment for her gambling addiction.
The case stems from Council’s misappropriation of more than $63,000 in campaign funds, which she spent at casinos over a 2½-year period. She used a campaign debit card to withdraw money more than 100 times. Her misuse of the funds came to light in 2012 when Attorney General Jon Bruning filed state charges.
Professional disciplinary charges were filed against Council’s license based on two misdemeanor convictions in state court for abuse of public records. She pleaded guilty and was fined $250 on each charge.
In October, felony wire fraud charges were filed in U.S. District Court. In a plea deal, she was fined $500 and put on probation for three years.
During a May hearing before the high court, John W. Steele, assistant counsel for discipline, said: “I don’t think we should have felons practice law.”
At the same hearing, Powers said the court should take into account his client’s long record of public service and professional accomplishment.
Fremont attorney Thomas Thomsen, the court referee, had recommended that her law license be suspended for one year and that she be given two years’ probation.
In his report, Thomsen praised Council’s record of service and her willingness to tackle her gambling addiction. She had since repaid the funds and had participated in a 12-step program to help overcome her addiction.
“We all lose if our sanction prevents (Council) from serving her clients in her community as an attorney,” Thomsen said.
Council also argued the misappropriation did not involve client funds.
But the high court said it did not see a distinction, because the money was used for a purpose other than for which it was intended. Additionally, the judges said the mitigating factors in Council’s case did not sufficiently overcome the fact that she committed the offense repeatedly and tried to cover it up.
Council was elected to north Omaha’s District 11 legislative seat in 2008, after serving on the Omaha school board and the Omaha City Council. She got her law degree from Creighton University in 1977.
Despite the charges, she sought a second term in the Legislature but was defeated.
Judge Lindsey Miller-Lerman recused herself from the case, which was decided by the court’s six other judges.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9587, joe.duggan@owh.com
Brenda Council
She regrets her actions and “recognizes it’s 100 percent on her,” says her lawyer, Vince Powers.
Friends of Brenda Council expect her to continue to help people, despite loss of her law license
[audio available on link]
Bruning also said he does not think the action will affect Council’s legal eligibility for office. The Nebraska Constitution says people convicted of felonies are ineligible for office, but contains no such provision for misdemeanors. Bruning noted that in 2005, Council had signed a voluntary ban on her presence at a casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa. When she later violated that ban, she was first warned, then was arrested for trespassing.
Council addressed that situation in a 2008 interview when it was raised by her opponent that year, Dennis Womack. “I think what people ought to focus on is that it was a decision on my part that that was an activity that I should discontinue. And the error that was committed was going into a facility, not for the purpose of gambling, and having the effect of my decision to discontinue that activity come back to haunt me,” she said at the time.
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