NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — Suspended Larose attorney Edward Duane Schertler II faces possible disbarment following a recommendation issued Aug. 9 by a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) hearing committee after he allegedly was caught sneaking contraband into a detention facility.
"There is no reason for the committee to doubt the credibility of the overwhelming evidence submitted by the office of disciplinary counsel," according to the six-page recommendation issued by LADB Hearing Committee No. 62. The committee found Schertler violated professional conduct rules, including those regarding committing a criminal act and dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation, according to the recommendation.
The recommendation was signed by hearing committee chair Mark J. Mansfield. Attorney member Kenneth P. Mathews and public member Verlean W. Randolph concurred in the recommendation.
Schertler was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 30, 2004, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website. Schertler had no prior record of discipline in Louisiana, according to the recommendation.
Lafourche Parish Sheriff officers allegedly caught Schertler trying to sneak contraband into the parish detention center during a March 2016 visiting with his client who was an inmate at the center, according to the recommendation. A warrant was issued after four heat sealed bags of cell phones, chargers and tobacco were allegedly discovered during a search of his brief case.
Law enforcement officers, who later that same month served the warrant on Schertler at his home, noted "the presence of drugs in plain view." They obtained a search warrant and later found illegal items, including marijuana, a weapon with an obliterated serial number and a stolen outboard motor, the hearing committee's recommendation said.
Following his arrest and bail, the office of disciplinary counsel learned that Schertler failed to enter a long-term treatment facility, didn't appear for multiple court appearances "and for a time was considered a fugitive from justice for whom a bench warrant remained outstanding until recently," the recommendation said.
Schertler did not cooperate in the office of disciplinary counsel's investigation.
In May 2016, the state Supreme Court accepted a joint petition for consent filed by filed Schertler and the office of disciplinary counsel and suspended Schertler on an interim basis, pending further order of the court.