TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — Inactive Boca Raton attorney Martin Miles Werner faces indefinite suspension following a Sept. 9 Florida Supreme Court order over his conviction on money laundering and other charges, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"In the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Werner was adjudicated guilty in 2018 of conspiracy to defraud the IRS and conspiracy to commit money laundering, both felonies, and sentenced to four years’ probation and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution to the IRS," the state bar said in its Sept. 26 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order.
In its two-page order, the state high court approved the notice of determination or judgment of guilt filed with the court before suspending Werner. The court also ordered a referee to be appointed in the matter. 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 Werner's suspension.
Werner was admitted to the bar in Florida on May 29, 1985, according to his profile at the state bar website. Werner has been inactive and ineligible to practice law in Florida since August 2014, according to the notice of determination or judgment of guilt.
On Dec. 22, 2011, Werner was charged in federal court and the following day entered a guilty plea to both counts, according to the notice. Judgment was entered against Werner the past October and a final order of forfeiture also was entered.
In a previous discipline, Werner was publicly reprimanded following a May 2014 Supreme Court order. The reprimand followed Werner's submission of continuing legal education credits on the subject of bankruptcy law, according to the consent judgment filed at the time.
The consent judgment included Werner's conditional guilty plea.
At the time, Werner was alleged to have failed to earn at least 12 credit hours for attending or participating in continuing legal education courses in bankruptcy law, required by the state bar every three years.
Werner, at the same time, also was representing a client in a bankruptcy case and his failure to have earned enough credits meant that he had engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, according to the consent judgment.