(Reuters) – A previous U.S. federal government agency law firm who was imprisoned on espionage rates for almost 20 a long time argued just before an ethics body this 7 days that she need to be readmitted to the bar to take care of prison justice issues.

In a two-working day hearing in Washington, D.C., that ended on Wednesday, Theresa Squillacote recounted her arrest and prosecution on espionage-conspiracy prices tied to a U.S. sting in the 1990s in which she handed four labeled documents to an undercover FBI agent posing as a South African intelligence officer. Her then-spouse was also convicted and sentenced to jail. Squillacote was unveiled in 2015.

Squillacote, a previous lawyer for the Nationwide Labor Relations Board who was disbarred in 2002 from the Washington, D.C. bar, on Wednesday apologized to the hearing committee of the D.C. Board on Experienced Accountability for “egregious, major misconduct” that she insisted was now component of her earlier. “My contrition is true. My shame is genuine,” mentioned Squillacote, 64.

Disciplinary policies change all-around the state, but in most states disbarment is not long term, and a law firm following a specific range of many years can argue for readmission. Legal professionals licensed in D.C. should wait around at minimum five several years right after disbarment and show their “exercise” just before searching for reinstatement.

“We talk to you to concentration not only on the individual she was but the human being who she is — another person who just after 18 yrs in jail is devoted to producing a beneficial contribution to this place and to folks who she can aid by means of authorized get the job done,” explained Cozen O’Connor legal professional Karen Williams, a lawyer for Squillacote, on Tuesday.

Squillacote in latest many years has worked on tasks like prisoner legal rights advocacy.

Sean O’Brien, an assistant D.C. bar disciplinary counsel, known as Squillacote’s underlying criminal perform “egregious” and reported “it was protracted.”

In closing remarks on Wednesday, O’Brien explained the bar disciplinary workplace will suggest against Squillacote’s reinstatement. O’Brien questioned no matter if some character witnesses who testified for Squillacote experienced a complete grasp of the underlying misconduct. “You won’t be able to converse about how much an individual has come when you don’t know particularly wherever they are coming from,” O’Brien explained.

O’Brien, Squillacote and Williams did not return messages searching for remark.

A hearing committee member, Jay Brozost, on Wednesday termed Squillacote’s case “tricky.” Squillacote has the competencies for readmission, Brozost reported. But he targeted on her character, noting her conduct several years back was “total of duplicity.”

“We have to ascertain currently if you are free of that and able to exercise legislation in the District of Columbia,” he claimed. “For us, that is our endeavor and it truly is not an straightforward one particular.”

The D.C. Court of Appeals testimonials and principles on reinstatement petitions.

(UPDATE: This write-up was current with remarks from the D.C. bar disciplinary counsel built for the duration of the ethics listening to on Wednesday.)

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