BEVERLY HILLS—A Beverly Hills attorney pleaded no contest on February 14, to one count of smuggling drugs into a courthouse. According to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s press release, he brought heroin into a holding center at a Los Angeles courthouse in June 2010.
Attorney Michael Inman, 48, was visiting two clients at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center who were charged with burglary and receiving stolen property. Officials arrested Inman when they found out he had black tar heroin and an unspecified amount of methamphetamine.
Jane Robison, spokesperson for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, said in an interview with Canyon News that the official amount of heroin found was 14.25 grams. However, she said the small amount of methamphetamine wasn’t used in the case because “the heroin was the real issue.”
Inman is no stranger to criminal charges. In 1998, he was formally suspended from practicing law due to a “citation for professional misconduct by state disciplinary authority,” according to his profile on AVVO, the business domain for doctors and lawyers.
His previous involvement in crime created speculation that Inman would face severe punishment in this case; however, other felony counts were dropped in exchange for Inman’s no contest plea. Those counts included possession of a controlled substance in a jail, possession for sale of a controlled substance and sale or transportation of a controlled substance.
Inman has been sentenced to 120 days in jail, three years of formal probation and inactive status as a licensed attorney by the State Bar.
