The court suspended the lawyer’s license for an indefinite period | News, Sports, Vacancies

YOUNGSTOWN — The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered jailed attorney Robert J. Rohrbaugh II, 51, to serve his law license indefinitely, with credit for the 18 months he has already served on a temporary suspension.

Officials say it could be several years before Rohrbaugh can apply to have his law license reinstated, primarily because a person on federal supervised release cannot apply for reinstatement until that supervised release will expire.

The suspension of Rohrbaugh’s law license is a result of Rohrbaugh being convicted in federal court of four felonies for his participation in a scheme to obtain fraudulent federal income tax refunds. His suspension will remain in effect while he serves a 52-month sentence in federal prison, the Ohio Supreme Court noted.

He must also serve three years of post-release supervision after leaving prison and, along with his co-defendants, pay $569,939 to the IRS, paying 25% of his gross income each month while he is in prison. According to the order, he must also pay 10% of his gross monthly income while in custody.

Judge Benita Y. Pearson imposed the sentence in June 2023 after Rohrbaugh was found guilty at trial in Youngstown of conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States, aiding and abetting theft of government property, and aiding and abetting false charges against the United States. and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Rohrbaugh is scheduled for release on Nov. 18, 2025, according to U.S. Bureau of Prisons online records.

He had a law office on Belmont Avenue in Liberty and was living in the Youngstown area at the time he and two other men were indicted in federal court on fraud charges. They were accused of cashing and using a $1.3 million IRS check that co-defendant Brandon Mays fraudulently obtained while in federal prison.

“At the disciplinary hearing, Rohrbaugh testified that most of the criminal conduct—creating fictitious organizations and filing false tax returns—occurred before he joined the conspiracy, and he claimed that all he did was register one of the fictitious businesses in Ohio,” the Supreme Court said in its ruling.

“Rohrbaugh also testified about the impact his convictions had on him and his family. Because Rohrbaugh was left without a job, his family had to sell everything they owned, including furniture, clothes and shoes,” it added. “Despite this, Rohrbaugh said he felt “pretty good” after learning that he didn’t actually need everything he used to have and that he could live on much less.”

The ruling added that “while in prison, Rohrbaugh participated in an inpatient drug treatment program, was active in spiritual groups and activities, and remained sober,” the ruling said. “He has also learned new plumbing skills and hopes that these skills will help him obtain a job as a commercial plumber once he is released from prison.”

In a complaint filed in January 2024, the Mahoning County Bar Association accused Rohrbaugh of five violations of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct related to the criminal matter. The Bar Association later dismissed three allegations of irregularities.

The Supreme Court’s ruling noted that the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct found that Rohrbaugh violated rules that prohibit a lawyer from “engaging in unlawful acts that reflect adversely on the lawyer’s integrity or reliability” and prohibiting a lawyer from “engaging in conduct that suggests dishonesty, fraud , deception or misrepresentation.”

The board and the Mahoning County Bar found that Rohrbaugh “demonstrated dishonest or selfish motives” but also found that Rohrbaugh had no prior disciplinary history and had freely and fully disclosed his conduct to the Professional Conduct Board and that he had cooperated. The investigation revealed that he was of “good character and reputation” and that “other punishments” had been imposed on him. The commission also found that Rohrbaugh’s actions were “significantly less in degree, scope and motivation” than those of his co-conspirators. Rohrbaugh did not appeal his conviction.

Four of the seven Supreme Court justices agreed to suspend Rohrbaugh indefinitely with credit for time served. Two other judges would not have given Rohrbaugh 18 months credit for time served. The seventh judge did not participate in the decision.

The judges compared Rohrbaugh’s conduct to that of other attorneys convicted of various federal financial crimes and concluded that his punishment was appropriate relative to others.

Among the most comparable were an attorney convicted of money laundering and attempted money laundering for accepting and issuing checks related to drug trafficking, and an attorney convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud for participating in a scheme aimed at deceiving investors, the resolution says. .