Local attorney Devin Garramone has been censured by a state appellate court for using his cell phone to send a sexually explicit text message to another person?s cell phone while knowing that it was accessible to an underage girl in 2009.
Considering this misconduct to be an ?aberration? in Garramone?s otherwise unblemished career, the state Appellate Division of the Fourth Judicial Department ruled June 24 that Garramone should face no more punishment than a severe reprimand.
This means that Garramone ? also a local musician ? can continue to practice law, which he was first admitted to in 1998.
In their decision, the appellate division stated its belief that Garramone?s judgment was clouded by alcohol at the time he sent the inappropriate text message in April 2009. In 2010, Garramone pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obscenity in Oneida County Court for possessing inappropriate pictures on his phone.
?We have further considered (Garramone?s) record of public service and the numerous letters of support submitted by individuals attesting to his good character and standing in the community,? the appellate division wrote.
Garramone is the son of former Utica City Court Judge Anthony Garramone and the brother of a prosecutor with the Oneida County District Attorney?s Office. Another brother, Christian Garramone, pleaded guilty last year to having ?sexual contact? with the same underage girl, and he received three years of probation.
Devin Garramone was sentenced last year to one year of conditional discharge for his plea.
In response to a petition filed by the state Grievance Committee of the Fifth Judicial District against Devin Garramone, the appellate division found that he violated the following Rules of Professional Conduct: engaging in illegal conduct that adversely reflects on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer; and engaging in conduct that adversely reflects on his fitness as a lawyer.
The most serious punishments an attorney could face for violating such ethics include temporary suspension of their law license or permanent disbarment from practicing law.
As part of the censure, Devin Garramone has agreed to participate in, and be monitored by, a program sponsored by the state Barr Association Lawyer Assistance Program for two years, the court wrote.
But if Devin Garramone fails to comply with that program or commits additional misconduct, then the Grievance Committee can ask the appellate division to impose an appropriate discipline.
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