Lawyer Guilty of LSD Possession but Acquitted of Giving Drug to Minor : Courts: The 42-year-old Ventura man faces a maximum of three years in prison for the felony. He could also be disbarred.

A Ventura lawyer was convicted Wednesday of possession of LSD, but he was acquitted of conspiracy to possess the drug and the more serious charge of furnishing LSD to a minor.

Douglas Andrew Palaschak, 42, faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison on the possession conviction, which is a felony.

The conspiracy charge also carried a three-year maximum, while the furnishing-to-a-minor charge could have led to a nine-year sentence, attorneys said.

Upon hearing the verdicts, a beaming Palaschak faced his attorney, Robert I. Schwartz, and clapped him on the arm.

“We were very pleased,” Schwartz said outside the courtroom. “I think the jury worked very hard and came to a proper conclusion.”

With his felony conviction, Palaschak will be unable to practice law, pending a disciplinary hearing by the State Bar of California, said Bar spokeswoman Susan Scott.

Palaschak and his secretary at the time, Jessica Jobin, were arrested May 9, after another office worker, Melissa Schwentner, informed police about an LSD party at the attorney’s office on Telephone Road.

The charge of furnishing LSD to a minor stemmed from a claim by Schwentner, who was 17 at the time, that Palaschak had invited her to take the drug during the office party. The charge of conspiracy was based on Jobin’s assertion that Palaschak asked her to obtain LSD for him and loaned her his car so she could go get it.

Palaschak had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. But in an interview with The Times after his arrest, he admitted taking LSD that afternoon. He said he previously had consumed another illegal drug, Ecstasy, and he touted both drugs as useful in social settings when taken responsibly.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kim George Gibbons said he believes that Palaschak committed all three

crimes but said he was satisfied with the verdict.

“Justice was done,” he said. “It’s a reasonable verdict given the way the evidence came out in court.”

He said Palaschak is eligible for probation, but Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. also may consider the attorney’s prior record in determining his sentence.

On Monday, Palaschak began serving a 120-day sentence in Ventura County Jail for several traffic citations, failures to appear in court and contempt-of-court citations, all unrelated to the LSD charges. He will be sentenced April 29 for the LSD conviction.

Jobin, who was initially charged with possession of LSD for sale, agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of possession of LSD in return for testifying against Palaschak, Gibbons said. Her arraignment is scheduled for April 27.

Scott of the State Bar said Palaschak will be placed on interim suspension within 48 hours, meaning that he will not be able to practice law and must return unearned advance fees until a Bar panel holds a hearing and decides what sanctions to impose.

The least severe punishment would be a private reproval; the most severe would be disbarment.

The State Bar also is known to be investigating a formal contract that Palaschak asked several prospective female employees to sign. The contract stated that the applicant had been chosen “primarily on the basis of sexual appeal” and that Palaschak was considering the applicant as a potential girlfriend. By signing the document, the prospective employee gave the attorney the right to make sexual overtures, both physical and verbal.

Palaschak said he drew up the contract to protect himself from “sexual blackmail,” but said it was signed by only one of more than 50 secretaries who worked for brief periods in his office last year.

Neither Jobin nor Schwentner signed a contract, Gibbons said.