TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — Longtime Valrico attorney Andrew Spark faces indefinite suspension following a July 15 Florida Supreme Court order and his guilty plea to contraband and soliciting prostitution charges, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
Spark's suspension until further court order will be effective 30 days from the date of the court's order, according to the state bar's July 26 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. 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 Spark's suspension.
"In Feb. 9, 2018, in Hillsborough County, Spark was charged with introduction of contraband to a detention facility and soliciting another to commit prostitution," the state bar's announcement said. Later that same month in Pinellas County, Spark was charged with introduction of contraband to a detention facility and soliciting another to commit prostitution, according to the announcement.
Spark entered guilty pleas in February and May 2019 to contraband and solicitation charges, according to the announcement.
In February, Spark was sentenced to five years' probation on one contraband charge and 12 months' probation for the solicitation charge. In May he was sentenced to 56 months' probation for the other contraband charge, according to the announcement.
Spark was admitted to the bar in Florida on Oct. 4, 1991, according to his profile at the state bar website. No prior discipline before the state bar is listed on his state bar profile.
Spark, then 54, was arrested in December 2017 and charged with soliciting for prostitution, exposure of sexual organs and possession of contraband in a Pinellas County detention facility. At the time, Sparks also was alleged to have recorded his sex acts with inmates.
Law enforcement officers also said at the time that they believed Spark has committed similar misconduct in other detention centers in the Tampa Bay area and Central Florida.