A state board that oversees lawyers has suspended the license of a Carbon County attorney who is accused of robbing a bank in neighboring Schuylkill County on Oct. 13 for failing to pay an annual fee. The order became effective Oct. 21.

Steven M. Cormier's license was suspended as of Sept. 21 by the state Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.A public notice published Tuesday indicated the suspension has to do with a rule that all lawyers admitted to practice in any court in Pennsylvania must pay a $200 annual fee.Cormier, 57, of Nesquehoning, was charged by state police at Schuylkill Haven on Oct. 13 with 12 felony counts of robbery, with a threat of immediate serious injury and robbery, demanding money from a financial institution; 12 felony counts of terroristic threats; felony counts of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property; and a misdemeanor count of possession of instruments of crime.Cormier is in Schuylkill County prison under $100,000 straight cash bail.According to police, Cormier was arrested a short time after he robbed the Wells Fargo Bank branch office, in the Fairlane Village Mall in Norwegian Township. Troopers said he entered the bank about 10:45 a.m. and approached employees, demanding that he wanted money now and if he doesn't get money "things will get ugly."After a teller filled a plastic bag Cormier supplied, he left the bank.Shortly after, Pottsville city police stopped Cormier. He was taken back to the bank and identified as the robber by three witnesses.A search warrant was obtained for his vehicle and found was the clothing he was wearing in the robbery, along with the plastic bag that was used and all the money that was taken. It totaled $15,923. No injuries were reported in the incident.Cormier has been an attorney for over 30 years and was employed by the Kovatch Corporation in Nesquehoning, as in-house legal counsel from August 1984 through May of this year.Cary Sinclair, the attorney's mother, said that he fell on hard times earlier this year and lost his job, according to The Associated Press. She said he was taking care of her because she's disabled.A records check revealed that on Jan. 2 the Internal Revenue Service filed a tax lien against Cormier alleging he owes $24,355.17 in back taxes.The Disciplinary Board is comprised of 13 volunteer members, of whom 11 are attorneys and two are nonlawyers, appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to three-year terms.