Miami attorney Kenneth Joseph Kukec has been suspended for one year following a Sept. 22 Florida Supreme Court order after he was found in contempt for failing to comply with requirements of previous suspensions that stem for cocaine charges in 2014.
The high court's two-page order in Kukec's most recent suspension followed a Florida Bar Association petition for contempt filed with the court. The state bar's petition alleged that Kukec did not comply with requirements that he notify clients, opposing counsel and tribunals of his suspension and within 30 days provide the state bar with a list of those notified.
The state high court also ordered Kukec pay $1,250 in costs. As Kukec already was suspended, the high court's most recent suspension was effective immediately, according to the order.
The Florida State Bar announced the discipline and the supreme court's order Nov. 21.
In Florida, court orders are not final until after time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion would not alter the effective date of the Kukec's suspension.
Kukec was admitted to the bar in Florida on Nov. 14, 1986, according to his profile at the state bar website.
The state Supreme Court handed down two suspensions against Kukec this past March and April, for 91 days and until he responded to the state bar's inquiry respectively.
Kukec previously was suspended 30 days following an August 2015 state court order, after his summer 2014 arrest on illegal drug charges, according to the consent judgment filed with the court. The consent judgment also includes Kukec's unconditional guilty plea.
In July 2014, Kukec was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and a controlled substance, third-degree felonies in Florida, along with possession of drug paraphernalia and equipment, which a misdemeanor, according to the consent judgment. Kukec was again arrested on felony drug charges the following November, according to a Miami Herald news report and his Monroe County Sheriff's Office arrest record.