Joshua Gayl, the former general counsel of VO Financial Corp. who was sentenced to a year in prison last July for conspiring to obstruct justice in a federal criminal case against his boss, has been disbarred in Pennsylvania and suspended for three years in New Jersey.

In a Nov. 7 order, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court disbarred Gayl on consent retroactive to June 3, 2016, which is the date he was temporarily suspended. Gayl had submitted a resignation letter to the Supreme Court's Disciplinary Board on Oct. 22.

“He submits the within resignation because he knows that he could not successfully defend himself against the charges of professional misconduct that are being brought in connection with his conviction,” said the letter, which was signed by Gayl and his attorney, Ellen Brotman of Philadelphia.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's order came just five days after the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its own order, adopting the Supreme Court Disciplinary Review Board's recommendation of a three-year suspension for Gayl retroactive to April 7, 2017, the date of his temporary suspension in New Jersey. Gayl will be required to submit proof of his fitness to practice, as attested to by a qualified mental health professional approved by the state Office of Attorney Ethics, prior to reinstatement.

Brotman, reached Thursday, said, “Josh has accepted responsibility for all his acts and has cooperated fully with the Pennsylvania and New Jersey disciplinary authorities. We're very grateful that Pennsylvania made his resignation retroactive to 2016 and every day he is working toward the reinstatement of his license.”

In July 2017, U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman of the District of New Jersey also sentenced Gayl to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine.

Gayl had reached a plea deal with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey in March 2016. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

According to court documents, CEO Adam Lacerda and others were charged in April 2012 with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud at their company, the Vacation Ownership Group. The company offered phony consulting services to owners of timeshare condominiums, documents said.

After the charges were filed, VO Group changed its name to VO Financial, and Gayl was hired as general counsel before Lacerda went to trial the following year. The company is located in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.

VO Financial's LinkedIn profile describes the company this way: “The VO Financial Corporation specializes in helping victims of timeshare fraud, misrepresentation, and or predatory lending practices. VO Financial Corporation offers specialized financing options to consumers who have otherwise been denied.”

“VOFC is the largest timeshare consulting firm in the world and understands the difficulties of timeshare owners can face,” the description continues. “We do not care about your past history because we focus our energies on providing you with a brighter future.”

Gayl admitted that he had tried to convince a witness against Lacerda that the witness was confused over false promises made to him to sell his timeshare, and told the witness: “We do not sell timeshares.”

The former GC was also accused of helping Lacerda alter a tape recording that was turned over to prosecutors as evidence under a subpoena, and of helping the defendants send payments to potential trial witnesses that were intended to influence witness testimony.

Gayl's efforts failed. Lacerda and others were eventually convicted of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and other offenses. Lacerda was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

In its June 8 decision recommending Gayl's suspension, the New Jersey DRB compared Gayl's case to other similar cases that resulted in disbarment, but ultimately determined that to be too harsh a penalty.

“Although respondent coached witnesses, he did not elicit false testimony from them while under oath,” the court said in its decision. “He also did not offer a bribe to someone. Finally, despite respondent's misconduct, one could hardly classify him as 'a crook of the worst kind.'”

The DRB said Gayl's case was most similar to a 1989 case called In re Power, in which an attorney received a three-year suspension after being convicted of obstructing the administration of law. According to the DRB, the attorney in that case assisted his clients in withholding information from authorities investigating criminal conduct and in making representations to insurance companies that they knew to be false.

But the DRB also acknowledged that Gayl “was an active participant in the obstruction of justice in a way that Power was not.”

“Judge Hillman's observation that he had not seen 'a more vigorous effort at obstruction' in his 25-year career as a prosecutor and judge, in addition to his imposition of the prison term (albeit for less than the recommended guidelines amount), suggest that respondent's conduct was more pernicious than the facts elicited at the plea hearing imply,” the DRB said. ”Yet, there simply is not enough in the record to place respondent's conduct in the same category as the attorneys who have been disbarred.”

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