A patent lawyer accused of helping his son flee to Israel to avoid murder charges in Maryland faces possible disciplinary actions by the state's highest court.
The Attorney Grievance Commission did not specify in its court petition what punishment it is seeking against the lawyer, Sol Sheinbein, but disbarment is possible under court rules.
Sheinbein helped his son, Samuel, escape to Israel in 1997 when he knew the 17-year-old probably was involved in the killing, dismemberment and burning of 19-year-old Alfredo Enrique Tello Jr., part of whose body was found Sept. 19, 1997, in a vacant home in Sheinbein's Silver Spring neighborhood, the petition alleges.
The petition, filed Thursday in the Court of Appeals, accuses the elder Sheinbein of committing a criminal act -- he was charged in Montgomery County with obstruction of justice -- and hindering the investigation into Tello's slaying.
Sheinbein flew to Israel nine days after Tello's death Sept. 17, 1997, and four days after his son had fled there.
The teen-ager blocked extradition in a yearlong battle that strained relations between Israel and the United States.
The Israeli Supreme Court, over objections by Israeli and Montgomery County prosecutors, ruled that the youth was an Israeli citizen through his father, who was born in pre-state Israel, and could not be forcibly returned to the United States.
Samuel Sheinbein pleaded guilty to the slaying in Israel in 1999 and is serving a 24-year sentence. If tried in Maryland, prosecutors said, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.
The elder Sheinbein works as a patent lawyer in Israel.
"Here is a fugitive from justice profiting from a law degree, in Israel," Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said yesterday.
"Apparently he was working for American companies doing business in Israel and helping them with their patents. In our view, it is insulting to the American system of justice."
The Court of Appeals sent the complaint against Sheinbein to an Arlington, Va., address that he had given to Maryland law licensing officials.
Sheinbein would face trial on the criminal charge if he returns to Maryland, said Gansler, the Montgomery County prosecutor.
Melvin Hirshman, bar counsel for the Attorney Grievance Commission, said a lawyer accused of violating conduct standards need not appear in person for the disciplinary proceedings.
The 12-page petition against Sheibein contains allegations similar to those made by police, that after learning his son was a suspect, Sheinbein planned his son's escape and bought airplane tickets to Tel Aviv for him.
The petition alleges that on the day Tello's body was found, the elder Sheinbein read an affidavit for a search warrant for his home -- an indication that he knew his son might be under suspicion.
A warrant for Samuel Sheinbein's arrest was issued the next evening. But the youth was Israel-bound, holding a passport his father had given him, according to the petition.
The Court of Appeals ordered Montgomery County Circuit Judge S. Michael Pincus to conduct a hearing on the Attorney Grievance Commission's allegations and issue findings and recommendations for disciplinary action.
