In re Terrence J.

*813 Opinion

The Review Department of the State Bar Court has recommended, with one member dissenting, that petitioner Terrence J. Ford be disbarred due to his conviction of a criminal offense involving moral turpitude. Petitioner urges that the hearing referee’s findings of fact, adopted unanimously by the review department, do not provide a basis for disbarment, arguing that insufficient weight was given to mitigating factors and that an actual suspension consisting of the time he has spent on interim suspension is the appropriate discipline. Although we are not unsympathetic to petitioner’s plight, we cannot ignore the fact that he pled guilty to a charge of embezzling client trust funds or call his showing in mitigation sufficiently compelling to lessen the impact of that plea. We therefore adopt the recommendation of the review department.

Facts

Petitioner was admitted to the bar on January 2, 1960. For over 20 years, he had an exemplary career, serving with the Judge Advocate General Corps of the United States Army and practicing as an associate and partner with two law firms in Sacramento and Stockton. 1 The record contains numerous references to petitioner’s skill as a…