UPDATE:Attorney Suspended
UPDATED May 5
An attorney who threatened to sue members of the Monocacy River Board was suspended from practicing law for accepting payment from a Colorado couple, without doing the agreed upon work, according to court documents. The payment, in the form of 500 ounces of silver bullion, has not been returned.
Fred Kelly Grant, [pictured left] obtained his license in Maryland, and kept it active during the 40 years he lived in Idaho. He currently lives in California. Grant was indefinitely suspended from practicing law on Apr. 21, 2017, effective July 3, 2017.
The court order, issued by Appeals Court Judge Clayton Greene Jr., cites professional misconduct in violation of rules of the Maryland Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct. The Attorney Grievance Commission filed the joint petition for suspension on Nov. 29, 2016.
The deferment, according to Maryland Bar Counsel Raymond A. Hein, gives Grant time to wrap up two federal cases in other states. Hein said his office was unaware that Grant had sent letters to the Monocacy River Board until contacted by The Frederick Extra.
Grant’s troubles began in August 2014 when he accepted a box containing silver bullion, valued at $10,000, from a Sterling, Colorado couple, according to court documents. Alan and Julia Gentz met with Grant in his Boise, Idaho office to discuss a potential lawsuit regarding conservation easement donations.
The couple did not receive any paperwork formalizing their agreement, and after multiple attempts to contact Grant, terminated their legal relationship in November 2014, according to court documents. They tried to recoup their payment for several months, and finally received an email from Grant in February 2015. Grant told them he was about to board a plane, and promised to be in touch, but did not follow up.
Alan Gentz filed a complaint against Grant with the Grievance Commission in April 2015. Grant did not respond to multiple letters from the Commission, court documents say. On December 19, 2015, an investigator for the Idaho State Bar served Grant with copies of the previous letters sent by Maryland Bar Counsel requesting a complete copy of the Gentz file; client ledgers; escrow account records; and a detailed accounting for the box of bullion, according to court documents.
Grant did not provide the materials requested, but told Hein in January 2016 that if a hearing were to be held in this matter, "sufficient evidence could be produced to sustain allegations that he committed professional misconduct," according to court documents.
Grant, Hein said in the petition, had an “unblemished disciplinary record during a career that included working as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland and in the Office of the Baltimore City State's Attorney during the 1960's” before moving to Idaho in 1970. He was also described as having “genuine remorse.”
Grant attributed his failings to health and family issues. The Gentz family is still waiting for the return of the silver.
“The clients have been advised they may file a claim with the Client Protection Fund of the Bar of Maryland, an agency that considers claims for reimbursement of losses caused by defalcations by members of the Maryland Bar,” Hein said in an email.
Grant is the attorney for Stand and Fight Club, an Idaho-based organization whose mission is described on its website as “a project to alert and engage the American public about the need to fight the destruction of various vital industries through onerous regulations and Executive Orders executed by our federal government.”
The Stand and Fight Club also sent a letter to the Monocacy River Board warning board members that their plan includes “unconstitutional limitations on property rights.” The letter was signed by Robin Frazier, a former Carroll County Commissioner who lives in Taneytown, MD, who serves on the board of directors of the Stand and Fight Club.
Three websites operated by Grant, www.JusticeMA.com; www.FKGPoliticsatRandom.com; and www.JusticeMyAss.com are nonfunctional. The domain name for the website www.FredKellyGrant.com is for sale for $3,595.
Grant did not respond to email inquiries for comment by press time.
