TALLAHASSEE — Tampa attorney Walter C. Little has been disbarred following an Oct. 15 Florida Supreme Court order over his securities fraud sentencing last year, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"Little engaged in felonious criminal activity involving conspiracy to commit insider trading/securities fraud," the state bar said in its Jan. 31 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. "He was sentenced to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release."
In its single-page order, the high court approved the uncontested referee's report filed in the matter and disbarred Little retroactive to April 2 when he was placed on interim suspension. The high court also ordered Little to pay a little more than $1,461 in costs.
Florida court orders are not final until time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion does not alter the effective date of Little's disbarment.
Attorneys disbarred in Florida generally cannot reapply for admission for five years and must pass an extensive process that includes a rigorous background check and retaking the bar exam.
Little, 45, currently is being held at the federal minimum security federal prison camp at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, according to an online inmate search.
Little was admitted to the bar in Florida on Nov. 7, 2001, according to his profile at the state bar website. No prior discipline before the state bar is listed on Little's state bar profile.
In April, Little was indefinitely suspended following a Supreme Court order and his sentencing about a year ago for insider trading. The previous November, Little plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit insider trading, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. He was sentenced in U.S. District for New York's Southern District in New York City last February to prison time and ordered to forfeit of more than $452,000.