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Ex-Ballard Spahr Lawyer Arrested on Drug Charges
The American Lawyer
July 13, 2009
Randall Sommovilla, a former lawyer with Philadelphia firm Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, was arrested Friday night for allegedly trying to smuggle packets of cocaine and heroin into a local jail while on a visit to see a client.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the 61-year-old Sommovilla was charged with possession of contraband and drugs after going to the Delaware County Prison in Thornton, Pa., after visiting hours to see Amber Knox, a client awaiting extradition to New Jersey.
The drugs were detected by a corrections officer during a routine search for controlled substances conducted on all jailhouse visitors. Citing court documents, the Inquirer reports that a scan of Sommovilla registered positive, whereupon a guard conducted a second search.
A plastic bag on the floor containing pills and small blue packages -- later determined to be heroin -- was found near Sommovilla's feet. A subsequent search of Sommovilla's car turned up cocaine and three glass pipes.
Ballard Spahr chairman Arthur Makadon was out of the office on Monday and unavailable for immediate comment. A firm spokeswoman told The Am Law Daily that Sommovilla, a former of counsel litigator, left the firm in mid-2007, although the circumstances surrounding his departure remain unclear. (Click here for a labor and employment client alert co-written by Sommovilla when he was with the firm.)
The Inquirer reports that Sommovilla told police that "some girls he met" three months ago had introduced him to drugs. He said another woman, identified only has "Brittany," had asked him to take the drugs to the jail because Knox was sick and needed them.
"My suspicion is that Brittany placed the drugs in [my] clothing, and when I got out to the facility Amber would convince me to give her the drugs," the Inquirer reports Sommovilla told police, citing court documents.
Sommovilla has been charged with possession of contraband and illegal narcotics. He faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on AmericanLawyer.com.
