The Wyoming Supreme Court has censured a Green River attorney after he made misleading statements to a law enforcement officer while employed with a county attorney's office.

John Joseph DeLeon was ordered to pay a total of $800 in fees and costs, according to a Thursday statement from Sharon Wilkinson, executive director of the Wyoming State Bar.

Law enforcement was investigating possible violations of the Wyoming Registered Sex Offender Act by a woman who was registered as a sex offender. She stayed with DeLeon for about a week, but when questioned by an officer regarding the woman's whereabouts, DeLeon denied that she had ever resided with him.

The woman was later charged with violating the Act, and DeLeon notified the Wyoming State Bar of his misrepresentations. He later admitted that he misled the officer and stipulated that his conduct violated rules for Wyoming attorneys.

A review panel noted that DeLeon never had an attorney-client relationship with the woman and gave him credit for reporting the incident on his own, cooperating with the disciplinary process, expressing remorse and his "extensive history of exemplary pro bono service to indigent clients."

The panel also said a lack of any prior disciplinary action against DeLeon was a significant mitigating factor.

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