Professional Conduct Board recommends 18-month suspension for Warren attorney

TRUMBULL COUNTY, OH - The Board of Professional Conduct of the Supreme Court of Ohio is recommending that a former Cuyahoga County assistant prosecutor have his law license suspended for another 18 months.
The original recommendation was 24 months with credit for six months served.
Joseph Michael Bell was arrested in 2021 on a charge of importuning or the solicitation of someone for sex acts. The person Bell allegedly messaged with was an undercover officer posing as a child.
He later pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a telecommunications device, a fifth-degree felony. Bell was sentenced to a year of probation with the term ending in April 2023.
At the time of Bell's arrest, he had been working for a year and a half with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office within its Child Support Enforcement Unit.
He was let go from the Prosecutor's Office following his arrest.