STATEN ISLAND — Disgraced former Congressman Michael Grimm wants his law license back, claiming his tax fraud conviction isn't serious enough to warrant him being stripped of it.
Grimm, who spent seven months behind bars, filed an appeal to change his federal disbarment to a one-year suspension, the New York Post first reported.
His lawyer Annette Hasapidis did not want to comment, but wrote in the appeal that Grimm's crime did not merit his license being taken away.
"Disbarment has been reserved for those instances where an attorney's actions arose from his or her practice as an attorney or were part of a pattern of conduct and related criminal activity," Hasapidis wrote in the appeal filed in Manhattan federal court last month.
"This is not such a case; this disciplinary proceeding was the first and only such incident in Mr. Grimm's career as an attorney and was unrelated to his work as an attorney."
Hasapidis also argued the government violated Grimm's rights because they disbarred him without a hearing while he was in prison.
He was sentenced to eight months behind bars — but only served seven — and ordered to pay back nearly $150,000 in restitution.
After his conviction, Grimm had an interim suspension placed on his New York law license and a two-year suspension on his Connecticut one.
The Grievance Committee of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York also issued a federal disbarment, which bans him from practicing in that court.
Since his release from jail, Grimm has said he is working on a memoir and mulling a return to public office.
He also penned an op-ed in which he said he was "demonized" by the media and transformed from "hero to villain" for his conviction, but reassured readers he's on track to return to his usual "level of excellence."
