PROVIDENCE — He spoke Spanish. He served as a judge in a predominantly Latino city. And he won over clients with his own story of immigrating from Colombia as a child and living in the United States as an undocumented immigrant for 15 years.
But according to a 10-count, 110-page petition filed by Rhode Island’s chief disciplinary counsel, immigration lawyer Joseph Molina Flynn took thousands of dollars from clients while failing to file asylum applications, work permits, and other key immigration documents.
Clients reported that “several months or years lapsed without proof that services were rendered,” and in several cases, “these clients had adverse immigration proceedings pending and didn’t have the financial means to hire new legal counsel,” the petition for disciplinary action states.
When his clients complained, Molina Flynn “repudiated their attempts to communicate with him regarding their case status,” and his mother Aida, who served as a receptionist at his office in downtown Providence, “was routinely rude or verbally abusive towards them,” the petition states.
When the Globe called the Molina Flynn Law Offices on Monday, the woman who answered the phone said, “No comment.”
The complaint comes five months after FBI agents searched the Molina Flynn Law Offices, and four months after the US Attorney’s Office filed a complaint alleging that he made false statements and failed to disclose tax debt on his mortgage application for an East Greenwich home now worth $1.17 million.
Molina Flynn founded the Molina Flynn Law Offices in 2015, focusing on immigration, family, and criminal matters. When he was appointed as municipal court judge in Central Falls in 2021, he became the the first formerly undocumented judge in Rhode Island and the first gay person to hold that seat.
After the FBI searched his office, Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera promptly announced that Molina Flynn had resigned as municipal court judge. He has since been replaced by Deborah S. Gonzalez, director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the Roger Williams University School of Law.
In the petition for disciplinary action filed May 12, chief disciplinary counsel Kerry Reilley Travers accuses Molina Flynn of professional misconduct.
In one of the 10 cases cited in the petition, a single mother with a special needs child hired Molina Flynn to handle an asylum application, a work permit application, and “cancellation of removal proceedings” in immigration court.
The woman, whose named is redacted in court documents, paid him a flat fee of $5,000, plus $495 in filing fees, in March 2021.
The woman became concerned when she did not receive notification that her work permit application had been received. Molina Flynn told her he had filed the application but it was taking longer than usual because of the pandemic, according to the petition.
In November 2021, Molina Flynn’s office asked her to complete another work permit application. But again, she never received notification her application was received.
In September 2022, Molina Flynn’s office asked her to fill out a work permit application for a third time, and pay another $495. But still, she did not get a confirmation.
Since the woman does not speak English, her daughter contacted US Citizenship and Immigration Services in January 2023, and an officer said there was no record of a work permit application being filed for the woman since 2020, according to the petition.
The woman and her daughter immediately went to Molina Flynn’s law office. Molina Flynn and his mother, Aida, told them “that USCIS was lying to her, and they uttered other profanities,” the petition says.
According to the petition, the woman’s daughter recorded the conversation on her cellphone. In the translated transcription, a male voice repeatedly asks, “Who the (expletive) are you?” and tells the woman and her daughter to “Get lost.”
The woman told the disciplinary counsel that the episode “placed her in a state of fear and anxiety for which she sought treatment of a therapist,” according to the petition.
An attorney for the Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance nonprofit ended up filing her work permit application at no charge in February 2023, and she immediately received a confirmation.
The woman later learned that Molina Flynn had never officially informed the immigration court in Boston that he was representing her in removal proceedings. Molina Flynn’s secretary told her that she would not get a refund of the $5,000 she had paid because of the “cost of ink,” phone calls, and visits to the law office, according to the petition.
The woman filed a complaint with the disciplinary counsel in May 2023.
“In response to Disciplinary Complaint, (Molina Flynn) admitted to and apologized for his untoward conduct towards (the woman) and her daughter that transpired at his law office,” the petition states.
He also claimed he had worked 23.5 hours preparing for trial in immigration court. Since he usually charges $350 per hour, he contended that he didn’t owe the woman a $5,000 refund. He only agreed to pay back the $990 in filing fees.
In June 2023, the disciplinary counsel wrote to Molina Flynn directing him to contact her office, but he failed to respond, according to the petition.
The disciplinary counsel then set a mandatory meeting for Aug. 15, 2023. Molina Flynn responded and said he was traveling to Spain and could not attend the meeting because of his travel plans. He then canceled an Aug. 29 meeting “due to illness.”
During a May 2024 meeting, the disciplinary counsel asked Molina Flynn if he was “experiencing any financial problems” since there were civil judgments against him, including demands for him to pay $43,961 to The University Club, an exclusive club on Providence’s East Side, and $77,868 to American Express.
Molina Flynn told her he was not experiencing any financial difficulties. He said he and his husband Christopher separated and had been in the process of divorcing in late November 2022. He said his husband primarily paid their bills during the marriage and the separation period. But he said they had reconciled and the complaint for divorce was dismissed, according to the petition.
The petition concludes with a request that the state Disciplinary Board hear testimony, receive evidence, and make a recommendation for disciplinary action “to protect the public and maintain the integrity of the legal profession.”
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.