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The Indianapolis attorney convicted of federal misdemeanors related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol is now facing an attorney suspension in Indiana.
Quentin G. Cantrell is already under an administrative suspension for failing to meet attorney CLE, fees and IOLTA requirements. But the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission is now seeking a second suspension against Cantrell’s law license, this time for failure to cooperate with a commission investigation.
A show-cause petition filed in September says the Disciplinary Commission sent a notice letter to Cantrell on June 28, demanding a written response within 30 days. The notice letter was returned as “Unclaimed, Unable to Forward” on July 24.
The letter was reissued Aug. 2, and on Aug. 4, and it was signed for by Joann Cantrell.
But as of the date of the Sept. 15 petition, Quentin Cantrell had not responded.
Thus, on Sept. 19, the Indiana Supreme Court issued a show-cause order requiring Cantrell to respond within 10 days. That order was signed for on Sept. 25, also by Joann Cantrell.
As of Wednesday, Quentin Cantrell still had not cooperated, according to a Request for Ruling and to Tax Costs. That request seeks Cantrell’s noncooperation suspension, plus $524.97 for the costs of the proceeding.
The show-cause petition does not detail the nature of the disciplinary investigation against Cantrell.
However, on June 26 — two days before the first notice letter was sent — Cantrell was sentenced to 12 months of probation, including six days of intermittent confinement, for his Jan. 6-related convictions. A federal judge had convicted him in April of misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Court documents say Cantrell and two of his relatives had traveled to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally featuring then-President Donald Trump.
After the rally on Jan. 6, the Cantrells “marched down Constitution Avenue toward the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.”
While at the Capitol, the Cantrells spent about 19 minutes on the Upper West Terrace before entering the building through a fire exit, where an alarm was sounding.
Quentin remained in the building for about two minutes before exiting and attempting to climb over a stair wall and down to the ground.
Prior to his arrest in March 2022, Cantrell had been of counsel at the Indianapolis intellectual property law firm Woodard Emhardt Henry Reeves & Wagner LLP. His name was removed from the law firm’s website the day after the arrest was announced, and his LinkedIn profile indicates he stopped working at the firm that same month.
Before his sentencing, Cantrell submitted letters of support from several individuals, including two former colleagues from the firm.
The Indiana Roll of Attorneys does not list any contact or employment information for Cantrell, and online court records do not list an attorney representing him in the disciplinary action, In the Matter of Quentin Gareth Cantrell, 23S-DI-257.
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