York County Sheriff William L. King appointed an attorney previously convicted for his role in a drug-related money laundering scheme to a board responsible for overseeing the York County Jail, where corrections officers keep being arrested.
The attorney, Gary Prolman, was previously suspended from practicing law due to an inappropriate sexual relationship with a client and allegedly has a history of cocaine use.
Prolman will serve on the York County Jail Board of Visitors (BOV), the Sheriff’s Department announced via a Facebook post on Tuesday.
The BOV is an advisory board of civilian members appointed by the sheriff to oversee operations of the county jail to ensure that the jail is operated correctly. The board tours the facility and issues recommendations for improvements if they identify problems with prison operations.
The Prolman listed as a new BOV member is labeled as an attorney. According to the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, there is only Gary Prolman practicing law in the state, confirming that King’s BOV pick is the same man convicted in the money laundering scheme.
Prolman is the only attorney appointed to the board.
In 2014, Prolman pleaded guilty to his role in a $177,500 money laundering conspiracy to help conceal a co-conspirator’s marijuana trafficking operation.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maine, Prolman worked from June through September to launder the funds for his co-conspirators.
He did so by taking cash from his co-conspirator, using it to purchase stakes in his own sports agency business, structuring deposits to avoid reporting requirements, and jointly purchasing real estate with his co-conspirator, while only his name appeared on documentation.
Board of Overseers records also claim that, following his conviction, Prolman was forced to undergo drug rehab due to a habit of regular cocaine use. Those records also show that Prolman’s cocaine dealer first introduced him to his co-conspirator in the money laundering scheme.
Strangely, his criminal conviction and alleged history of cocaine use only resulted in a temporary suspension of his ability to practice law, and he was reinstated in 2016.
The reinstatement didn’t last long, however, because in 2017, shortly after returning to work as a lawyer, Prolman was suspended again, this time for sexual misconduct.
According to Bar records, Prolman was representing a woman charged with theft who had allegedly been the victim of sex trafficking and who was at the time in an abusive relationship.
Prolman reportedly allowed her to move into his apartment, and began a sexual relationship with her, despite knowing that she was vulnerable.
“Prolman also violated Rule 2.1 by taking advantage of his client’s vulnerabilities to initiate an intimate sexual relationship with her to which she submitted, despite her finding Prolman’s sexual advances to be “gross,'” said Bar records.
Prolman was again suspended and was finally reinstated in 2022. He has apparently been practicing law in Saco ever since.
Given Prolman’s history of legal and ethical violations as an attorney, he appears to be a strange choice to serve as the only legal practitioner on a board meant to ensure the ethical operation of the York Jail.
The appointment appears even stranger given the jail’s recent history with alleged misconduct and criminal activity among corrections officers.
Earlier this month, a corrections officer was indicted for allegedly smuggling a vape to a prisoner.
Before that, in November, three other corrections officers were indicted for allegedly accepting bribes to smuggle contraband to inmates.
Another corrections officer last year resigned after The Maine Wire reached out to King about allegations that a wanted fugitive had been arrested while living at her apartment.
In January, a corrections officer from Angola was detained by ICE, though he has since been released, and it is unclear whether he was actually present in the country illegally or if ICE made an error in arresting him.
The Maine Wire reached out to Sheriff King for comment on Prolman’s appointment, but he did not immediately respond. This article will be updated if he chooses to respond.
More on The York Sheriff’s Department
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