Maridee Costanzo gives up Ohio law license

The former lawyer is in a federal prison in Texas.

By MARC KOVAC

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

COLUMBUS — A former Warren attorney, convicted in a scheme to kill her husband, has formally resigned her Ohio law license.

Maridee Lynn Costanzo’s voluntary resignation was among the case announcements and administrative actions announced Thursday by the Ohio Supreme Court.

The formal affidavit in which she agreed to cease practicing law was filed in Tarrant County, Texas. The resignation is “unconditional, final and irrevocable,” according to documents.

Costanzo, 49, is incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, with a scheduled release date of Aug. 16, 2012, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. She was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by three years’ supervised release.

The facility “provides specialized medical and mental health services to female offenders,” according to the bureau.

Costanzo was sentenced in 2005 for trying to pay someone to kill her estranged husband, Warren attorney Roger Bauer.

According to court documents, she pleaded guilty to murder for hire and was sentenced to 96 months in prison.

She also was convicted in Trumbull County on weapons charges. Those convictions did not add to her sentence because they were ordered to be served concurrently with her federal sentence.

Costanzo was suspended from practicing law in 2005 in relation to the murder-for-hire case and for conduct related to a capital murder case, according to documents.

Proceedings and filings from the time pinpointed numerous violations of professional responsibility and disciplinary rules.

Court documents noted her “propensity to engage in criminal activity” demonstrated that she posed “a substantial threat of serious harm to the public.”

Costanzo faced further disciplinary action, including potentially disbarment. Her voluntary resignation has the same effect on her future legal career.

“She’ll never practice law again in the state of Ohio, and most likely anyplace else,” said Chris Davey, a spokesman for the Ohio Supreme Court.