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04/13/2009 "See News Release 019 for any Concurrences and/or Dissents."

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA NO. 08-B-2980 IN RE: SCOTT EASON MEECE

ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS

PER CURIAM
This disciplinary matter arises from formal charges filed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") against respondent, Scott Eason Meece, an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana but currently on interim suspension for threat of harm to the public. In re: Meece, 07-0913 (La. 5/9/07), 956 So. 2d 574.

UNDERLYING FACTS In April 2007, respondent was arrested by federal authorities and charged with robbing the Trustmark National Bank in Wesson, Mississippi.1 In October 2007, respondent pled guilty in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi to one count of armed bank robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. In February 2008, respondent was sentenced to serve a total of 121 months in federal prison. He was also ordered to pay $37,600 in restitution to Trustmark National Bank.2

On March 27, 2007, respondent entered the bank and requested to open a new account and rent a safety deposit box. After respondent waited a few moments for assistance, a bank employee took him into the vault to see the safety deposit boxes. Once in the vault, respondent revealed a handgun in a holster under his suit jacket and ordered the employee to open the bank's safe. He then removed the currency from the safe and fled the bank. Newspaper articles in the record indicate that respondent has confessed to committing "a string of bank robberies" in Alabama and elsewhere in Mississippi. Nevertheless, the formal charges pertain only to respondent's conviction arising out of the March 27, 2007 robbery of the Trustmark National Bank in Wesson, Mississippi.
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DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS In November 2007, the ODC filed one count of formal charges against respondent, alleging that his conduct as set forth above violated the following provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct: 8.4(a) (violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct), 8.4(b) (commission of a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer), and 8.4(c) (engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation). Respondent was served with the formal charges via certified mail but failed to answer. Accordingly, the factual allegations contained therein were deemed admitted and proven by clear and convincing evidence pursuant to Supreme Court Rule XIX,

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Louisiana Law