In re Chernik

This is a proceeding to review the recommendation of the State Bar Court that petitioner Peter Robert Chernik be suspended from the practice of law for three years, that the order of suspension be stayed and that he be placed on probation for three years on specified conditions including actual suspension for the first year.

Petitioner was admitted to practice in California in 1969. On October 19, 1982, he was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding the lawful function of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in violation of 18 United States Code section 371 . The conviction was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, in October 1984. (United States v. Little (9th Cir. 1984) 753 F.2d 1420 .) We referred the matter to the State Bar for a hearing and report on whether the facts and circumstances surrounding the commission of the offense involved moral turpitude or other misconduct warranting discipline.

The hearing panel found: Petitioner’s conviction resulted from an IRS “sting” operation involving Indec Financial Corporation, a real estate development company that sold interests in real estate limited partnerships. Petitioner…