D.C. Appeals Court disbars Washington attorney over felony conviction

On Thursday, December 8, 2022, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ordered the disbarment of Washington attorney Steven B. Fabrizio as recommended by the Board on Professional Responsibility for Fabrizio’s conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude.

The case is styled In Re Steven B. Fabrizio and was brought by the Disciplinary Counsel under Case #21-BG-831.

On July 30, 2019, Fabrizio pleaded guilty to one count each of blackmail and third-degree sexual abuse before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Fabrizio was sentenced to a total of 30 months of incarceration, with all but 12 months of that time suspended on the condition that Fabrizio successfully completes three years of supervised probation. Moreover, he will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years following his release from prison.

The Order states:

‘The Board found that the felony of third-degree sexual abuse (force)was an offense involving moral turpitude per se and, alternatively, that the undisputed facts underlying the offenses here involved moral turpitude.’

Neither Fabrizio nor the Disciplinary Counsel took exception to the Board’s Report and Recommendation.

The Order continues:

‘Under D.C. Bar R. XI, § 9(h)(2), “if no exceptions are filed to the Board’sreport, the[c]ourt will enter an order imposing the discipline recommended by the Board upon the expiration of the time permitted for filing exceptions.”’

Accordingly, because no exceptions have been filed, the Court accepted the Board’s recommendation that the undisputed facts of the case constitute an offense of moral turpitude, imposed the required sanction, and disbarred Fabrizio from the practice of law.

The disposition reads:

“ORDERED that respondent Steven B. Fabrizio is hereby disbarred from the practice of law in this jurisdiction nunc pro tunc to October 24, 2022.”

Prior to the disbarment, Mr. Farbrizio practiced in Washington, District of Columbia. He was the former general counsel of the Motion Picture Association of America. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center. Fabrizio has been admitted to the District of Columbia, New York, and the Pennsylvania bars. His info can be found on Avvo.

A copy of the order of disbarment can be found here.