State Senator Carlos Uresti is no longer allowed to practice law in Texas. The convicted democratic San Antonio senator surrendered his law license instead of facing disciplinary action from the State Bar of Texas.
In February, Uresti was convicted of 11 felony charges ranging from money laundering, wire fraud, and securities fraud for his involvement in a fracking sand company known as four winds which the government described as a ponzi scheme.
Uresti filed his motion, on March 23, about one month after his conviction.
The state senator is expected to be sentenced in June, shortly after a trial in another case he’s been indicted, involving a bribery case in Reeves County, which starts in May.
Claire Mock, spokeswoman for the State Bar of Texas Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, says Uresti can no longer represent any clients even if their cases are still active.
Uresti is prohibited from practicing law in the State of Texas. He is prohibited from holding himself out as an attorney at law, performing legal services for others, giving legal advice to others, accepting any fee directly or indirectly for legal services, appearing as counsel or in any representative capacity in any proceeding in any Texas court or before any Texas administrative body (whether state, county, municipal, or other), or holding himself out to others or using his name in any manner in conjunction with the words “Attorney at Law,” “Counselor at Law,” or “Lawyer.”
“He has to notify his clients that he’s no longer practicing and then his clients can either try to stay with another attorney at that firm or they could seek their files and any unearned fees,” she said.
Uresti’s disbarment took effect after the nine justices of the Texas Supreme Court signed the order Tuesday.
Uresti had been a practicing attorney since 1992. He ran his practice out of a building on McCullough Avenue that prominently displays his name. The building was raided by the FBI in February of 2017. Uresti and co-defendants Gary Cain and Stan Bates were indicted in May.
Uresti has not said he would resign from his Senate seat. Uresti began his career in the legislature in 1997, as member of the House. He won a seat in the Senate in 2006.
Joey Palacios can be reached at Joey@TPR.org and Twitter at @Joeycules.
