State ex rel. Okla. Bar Ass'n v. Giraldi

• Decision Date: 21 November 2022
• Docket Number: SCBD-7361
• Citation: 2022 OK 94
• Parties: STATE OF OKLAHOMA ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION, Complainant, v. DANIEL THOMAS GIRALDI, Respondent.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

2022 OK 94

STATE OF OKLAHOMA ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION, Complainant, v. DANIEL THOMAS GIRALDI, Respondent.

No. SCBD-7361

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

November 21, 2022

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

ORDER APPROVING RESIGNATION PENDING DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS

¶1 The State of Oklahoma ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Association (Complainant) has presented this Court with an application to approve the resignation of Daniel Thomas Giraldi (Respondent), OBA No. 21192, from membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association. Respondent wishes to resign pending disciplinary proceedings and investigation into alleged misconduct, as provided in Rule 8.1 of the Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings (RGDP), 5 O.S.2021, ch. 1, app. 1-A https://govt.westlaw.com/okjc. Upon consideration of the Complainant's application and the Respondent's affidavit in support of resignation, we make the following findings:

a. During an investigation into allegations of professional misconduct against him, the Respondent offered on November 4 2022, to surrender his license to practice law and to resign from membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association.

b. The Respondent tendered his resignation freely and voluntarily, without coercion or duress, and he was fully aware of the consequences of submitting his resignation.

c. The Respondent acknowledged that the Complainant's Office of the General Counsel was investigating certain allegations of professional misconduct against him. General Counsel had filed Grievance No. DC-22-58 after becoming aware that Respondent had pleaded guilty on July 13, 2022, to one count of Possession of Oxycodone with Intent to Distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C) and to four counts of Honest Services Wire Fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1346 in the case of United States v. Daniel Thomas Giraldi, No. 4:22-cr-00143-GKF (N.D. Okla. filed Apr. 25, 2022). Respondent admits that while he was serving as an Assistant District Attorney in the Ottawa County District Attorney's Office, he devised a scheme beginning in or about February of 2019 and continuing until on or about April 19, 2022, to defraud the citizens of Oklahoma and his employer of their right to the honest and faithful services that he owed them in his position through the concealment of material information and the receipt of bribes in exchange for official acts. Specifically Respondent would receive something of value--including sexual favors from multiple women --in exchange for corrupt actions in his official capacity, including but not limited to the reduction of criminal defendants' bond amounts, the dismissal of traffic violations, and other favorable treatment of criminal defendants in their cases. To advance this scheme and artifice to defraud, Respondent employed wire communications in interstate commerce to transmit sounds and writings, including text messages sent on April 13th and 14th and a phone call placed on April 14th. Respondent further admits to possessing Oxycodone on April 19th with intent to distribute, all in relation to allegations that he traveled interstate to deliver the controlled dangerous substance (CDS) to a woman in exchange for sexual favors. Respondent is currently waiting to be sentenced. Under the applicable statutes, Respondent could be subject for each count of fraud to a sentence of a fine not exceeding $250,000, a term of imprisonment not exceeding 20 years, or both, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 1346, 3571(b)(3), and subject for the count of CDS possession to a sentence of a fine not exceeding $1,000,000, a term of imprisonment not exceeding 20 years, or both, see 18 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C).

d. The Respondent is aware that the allegations concerning the conduct specified above, if proven, would constitute violations of Rules 1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.10, 8.4(b), and

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