ALBANY COUNTY — Jonathan P. Francis, a lawyer who waged a standoff in May with police after threatening suicide, was disbarred last week since he pleaded guilty to a felony charge.

Francis practiced law in the village of Altamont and ran unsuccessfully in 2003 for town judge in Knox where he lived.

In October, Francis pleaded guilty in Albany County Court to criminal contempt, a class E felony. An Appellate Court decision followed last week, which granted the Committee on Professional Standards’ motion to strike Francis from the roll of attorneys.

According to the decision, Francis is no longer able to practice law in any form — either as a clerk or employee. He is also forbidden to act as an attorney before any court or judge, board or commission, and he may not give legal advice or opinions.

Francis could not be reached for comment, nor could his lawyer, James E. Long.

His father, Jay T. Francis, who is the pastor of the Rock Road Chapel in Knox, spoke about his son yesterday.
"Jonathan is headed in the right direction, and I expect good things from his life," said Pastor Francis.

Jonathan Francis’s license to practice law was suspended indefinitely on April 5 of last year for failure to complete a drug-treatment program and comply with a subpoena regarding several complaints of professional misconduct, according to an Appellate Court decision.

Troubled history

Francis has a history of run-ins with the law.

In 1991, when he was 23, Francis was arrested for falsely reporting an incident after he called a secretary at the Berne-Knox-Westerlo school to report that he shot himself in the head, according to papers from the Knox Town Court.

On May 12 of last year, State Troopers and officers from the Albany County Sheriff’s Department, the Guilderland Police Department, the Altamont Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and negotiators responded to Francis’s Lewis Road home in Knox after he had called a suicide hotline around 11 a.m., threatening to kill himself and anyone who arrived with lights on top of his car, meaning police, James Campbell, Albany County’s sheriff, said in May. Campbell said Francis had been drinking and taking drugs the previous night.

A four-hour standoff with police ensued. When police finally made contact with Francis, he requested to speak with Campbell’s son, J.T. Campbell Jr., an investigator with the sheriff’s department who had dealt with Francis before. J.T. Campbell was able to get Francis to come out of the house with his hands above his head.

As it turned out, there were only two BB guns in the house, Sheriff Campbell said at the time.

Francis was taken to the Capital District Psychiatric Center in Albany and there were no charges.

The standoff followed Francis’s arrest for harassing his wife, who had an order of protection against him.
The previous month, Francis’s license to practice law was suspended indefinitely for failure to complete a drug-treatment program and comply with a subpoena regarding "several complaints of professional misconduct," according to an Appellate Court decision.
"I can’t justify his actions," said Pastor Francis in May. "Yet, I can say that Saturday doesn’t define who he is."