Cody lawmaker suspended from practicing law

Posted 8/25/16

The Wyoming Supreme Court suspended Krone’s law license on Wednesday; the suspension will last until pending disciplinary charges from the state bar are resolved.

The brief order does not lay out the reasons for Krone’s suspension. Wyoming …

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Cody lawmaker suspended from practicing law

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Embattled state lawmaker Sam Krone of Cody — who lost his bid for re-election last week — has been prohibited from practicing law while the Wyoming State Bar investigates alleged misconduct.

The Wyoming Supreme Court suspended Krone’s law license on Wednesday; the suspension will last until pending disciplinary charges from the state bar are resolved.

The brief order does not lay out the reasons for Krone’s suspension. Wyoming State Bar Executive Director Sharon Wilkinson said the allegations being made by the bar’s prosecutor will remain confidential “until and unless there’s some further public discipline handed down.”

Wyoming Bar Counsel Mark Gifford asked the Wyoming Supreme Court to suspend Krone on Monday, Aug. 1. Gifford’s request came shortly after the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office charged Krone with three felony and four misdemeanor counts of larceny or theft. The charges, filed on Friday, July 29, allege Krone stole more than $9,600 from the Park County Bar Association between 2010 and 2013.

Krone has said he’ll be exonerated.

In addition to those criminal allegations, Krone could be subject to discipline for sending a series of crude and demeaning text messages to a friend — while she was being prosecuted by one of Krone’s co-workers at the Park County Attorney’s Office. Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys at Law generally prohibit lawyers from communicating with defendants who are represented by an attorney. Krone was fired from his job as a deputy Park County prosecutor because of the texts.

He had done some legal work since his February firing by practicing as the Krone Law Office, though the lawmaker said on KODI-AM this month that he was “just trying to deal with the (re-election) campaign more than anything else.”

Krone had told the Cody Enterprise in February that he planned to go into practice with several Cody attorneys, but that never happened.

The Republican’s bid for a fourth term in the Wyoming House of Representatives ended last week. Cody area voters favored Krone’s Republican challenger, Scott Court, by more than 2:1 in the primary election.

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