Mayor Adrian Fenty’s nominee to a critical D.C. appeals board was recently disbarred in Maryland for his role in a fraudulent real estate scheme and will not be sworn in.

Will Purcell’s nomination to the Contract Appeals Board, the panel charged with hearing and resolving contractual disputes, was approved by the D.C. Council on July 14. A week later, the Maryland Court of Appeals ordered Purcell and a second lawyer, Renard Johnson, disbarred for their participation in an equity-stripping scam.