Death Scheme Is Alleged

A 38-year-old San Diego lawyer who was admitted to the State Bar Assn. less than 18 months ago was arrested Friday afternoon on suspicion of arranging to have a former client--now a county jail inmate--killed, a prosecutor said.

Stuart Jeffrey Sandrock was arrested in the parking garage of an office building on La Jolla Village Drive about 1 p.m. when an undercover police officer delivered an AK-47 assault rifle Sandrock had arranged to buy, Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Anear said.

The murder-for-hire arrangement came to light when Sandrock was inquiring about the rifle, Anear said.

Sandrock had contacted a county jail inmate in an attempt to buy the weapon, and in the course of the conversation asked to have a former client--also in county jail--killed, Anear said.

Investigators from two San Diego police gang units had been working with the district attorney’s special investigations unit on a gang investigation when the inmate disclosed his conversation with Sandrock, Anear said.

“About two weeks ago, he popped into (the investigation),” Anear said.

When an undercover officer from the gang unit delivered the weapon to Sandrock on Friday, he was taken into custody without incident, Anear said.

According to State Bar Assn. membership records, Sandrock, a San Diego native, was admitted to the Bar on June 10, 1991. He attended law school at Western State University in San Diego, and got his undergraduate degree at UCSD.

The Bar Assn. has taken no disciplinary actions against Sandrock.

An investigation is continuing, but at this point Sandrock faces no charges in connection with the purchase of the rifle, Anear said. Investigators declined to say why Sandrock wanted the weapon, or how much he had allegedly offered to pay to have his former client killed.

His former client, whose name is being withheld to protect him, is serving time on a narcotics charge, Anear said.

According to Anear, Sandrock has been practicing law in San Diego and was arrested outside his office. His listed office address, however, is nothing more than a business message service and mail pickup facility at 5580 La Jolla Blvd., another client who uses the service said.

“There’s some mailboxes. It’s more like a Mail Boxes Etc. type thing. Other than getting your mail, you wouldn’t practice there,” he said.

Sandrock will be booked on one count of solicitation for murder, and his bail will be set at $500,000, Anear said.