TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida lawyer convicted in 2019 on charges that he was using female clients in two county jails to make pornographic films has been disbarred, the state bar announced last week.
Andrew Bennett Spark, 58, formerly of Pompano Beach, was arrested Dec. 17, 2017, and charged with exposing himself, with introducing contraband into the county jails and with soliciting for prostitution. He pleaded guilty two years later to introducing contraband into the jails in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and to soliciting for prostitution in the Pinellas County Jail.
Spark, who was sentenced to probation in both cases, now lives in Flushing, New York. According to state records, he is a licensed and registered attorney there.
“Spark abused his privilege to practice law and used his law license to engage in deception with the intent to access private rooms provided to attorneys in two separate jail facilities for the purpose of soliciting prostitution,” Florida Bar officials said Jan. 28. “Spark video recorded these encounters with the goal of creating an adult pornographic film for his own prurient and/or financial interest.”
His disbarment is retroactive to July 15, 2019, when he was suspended for the felony convictions of introducing contraband into the jails.
Court records show that Spark went to visit with a woman Nov. 25, 2017, in the Pinellas County Jail. The woman had not requested a visit with him, and she was represented by a different lawyer.
During this visit and all visits with women connected to the case, Spark used his Florida Bar identification card in order to be allowed to meet with the inmates.
“He really duped the system because he shouldn’t have access to her,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at the time of Spark’s 2017 arrest. “He wasn’t her lawyer; he wasn’t representing her. But as an attorney, he’s given the courtesy of going into the jail to meet with clients.”
Watch the 2017 news conference about Spark’s arrest below.
Press conferenceSheriff Bob Gualtieri held a press conference today regarding the arrest of 54-year-old attorney Andrew Spark. Spark was arrested on December 17, 2017 for soliciting sex and having sexual contact with a female inmate at the Pinellas County Jail. Detectives say Spark was soliciting female inmates to make a pornography video. Spark may face additional charges as this investigation continues.
Posted by Pinellas County Sheriff's Office on Monday, December 18, 2017
A report from a referee overseeing the disbarment proceedings lays out the facts of what took place.
“(Spark) requested to visit with the inmate, whom he knew to be an adult film actress and whose arrest and conviction was widely publicized,” the report states.
The Miami Herald identified the woman as Shauna Boselli, who co-produced and starred in adult films produced by her husband, Richmond McDonald. At the time of her visit from Spark, the 25-year-old Boselli had just been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
The girl was 7 years old in July 2016 when her father to Tampa to meet with Boselli and McDonald.
“After spending time at the zoo and taking the child for ice cream, McDonald and Boselli led the relative and the child to their house in Tampa,” a news release from federal prosecutors said. “While at the house, McDonald and Boselli sexually abused the child while the relative watched.”
The sexual abuse was repeated two days later at the hotel where the girl and her father were staying.
McDonald, 40, was sentenced to life in federal prison. The child’s father got a 75-year sentence.
At the sentencing hearing, the girl’s mother lamented the effects the abuse had on her daughter. The girl no longer enjoyed making new friends, and any change in her routine left her sobbing, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
“How can I teach her to love?” the girl’s mother said.
‘Unfit to practice law’
Spark had previously met Boselli and McDonald at a porn convention, according to the referee’s report. During his visit with Boselli, he admitted that he could not really help her with her case but asked if she would be interested in sex.
“(Spark) stated he would video record and subsequently publish the video of the sexual acts in exchange for putting money in her jail account,” the report states.
The former attorney told Boselli he had similar agreements with other inmates, including one he met with that same day, and gave her his contact information.
Boselli later told her family about the unsolicited visit, and her family contacted law enforcement.
Read Spark’s disbarment judgment below.
Spark Disbarment by National Content Desk on Scribd
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation, during which detectives learned that Spark had solicited another inmate, with whom he had a prior relationship, for sex in the jail multiple times between June 2017 and December 2017.
On one particular date detailed in the report, Oct. 12, 2017, he had visited that woman while posing as her attorney.
Attorney-client meetings inside the jail are held in rooms that are not monitored to protect the inmates’ rights. Spark was allowed to bring a tablet into the room because it is one of the electronic devices often used by attorneys.
“Once inside the room, he solicited and received oral sex from this female inmate, which he recorded on his electronic tablet,” the report states.
Upon learning from detectives about the evidence against Spark, the inmate agreed to work with them.
When Spark went to the jail again on Dec. 17, investigators were monitoring the meeting room in which he met with the inmate. Once again, he solicited oral sex from the woman.
Detectives entered the room while his zipper was down, the report states. Spark was taken into custody.
Read the entire referee’s report below.
Report of Referee by National Content Desk on Scribd
When they reviewed the inmate’s jail account, the investigators found Spark had deposited money on dates that coincided with the dates of the solicitation and the sexual activity.
It was while they were investigating the Pinellas County case that detectives stumbled upon a similar scheme involving a female inmate at the Falkenburg Road Jail in Hillsborough County, authorities said.
In that case, Spark put $10 in the inmate’s jail account — so she could call her mother — in exchange for oral sex that he recorded, according to the report.
Like the inmate in Pinellas County, Spark had a prior relationship with the woman, who he had represented for free from time to time and with whom he had previously had sexual contact.
“(Spark’s) conduct was planned, calculated and repeated, and would have continued but for his arrest,” the report states.
Evidence showed that Spark emailed a friend on Oct. 10, 2017, days before his crimes in the jail in Hillsborough County, to obtain a sample modeling contract used in the porn industry. Titled “Model Release,” the document required the inmates to agree that their dealings with Spark would not negatively affect their own interests—unless they got caught—and that they would not create a conflict of interest between them and Spark.
“The contract further states the inmates are to act how appreciative they are for having access to a man, particularly (Spark), in the midst of incarceration, and they acknowledge (Spark) does not want them to get caught by jail or prison personnel performing sex acts,” the court records state.
By signing the contract, the women would also agree that they would not reveal Spark’s identity to anyone without his written consent. If they did, they would be subject to damages of $1 million.
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The referee in the case wrote that Spark, who claimed he had a sex addiction and had sought treatment, showed no genuine remorse for what he had done. His treatment at The Palms, an addiction treatment facility in Palm Springs, was undertaken to satisfy the terms of his probation.
Spark had also testified that the sexual acts were between two consenting adults and pointed out the women’s extensive criminal histories and drug addictions. The referee, in turn, pointed out the particular vulnerability of inmates confined to detention facilities.
“The lack of freedom and life circumstances made these women vulnerable,” the report states.
The referee wrote that Spark abused his privilege to practice law when he used his law license to commit felonies.
“(Spark’s) character and conduct are wholly inconsistent with approved professional standards,” the referee wrote. “(His) conduct demonstrates a disregard for and an inability to uphold the laws of this state, intentional interference with the administration of justice, and further demonstrates severe moral turpitude, making him unfit to practice law.”
The report was uncontested by Spark and his attorney.
Cox Media Group
