ST. PETERSBURG — When Sheila Scott Griffin announced her candidacy last week to replace term-limited City Council member Wengay Newton, she listed several occupations, including consultant and transportation manager.But Griffin, 57, had a previous career as a lawyer, in which her law license was suspended in 2007 and 2011. She practiced under the name Sheila D. Turner, according to the Florida Bar.Griffin, who didn't return multiple calls for comment, has said she entered the race for the District 7 seat to improve education, strengthen families and make the Florida dream more than a tourist-based myth.District 7, which includes Midtown and other nearby neighborhoods, has one other candidate who had officially qualified as of Tuesday: Lisa Wheeler-Brown, past president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations.Aaron Sharpe, a consultant and neighborhood activist, has said he will run but hasn't qualified.In 2007, Griffin was suspended for six months and ordered to refund $32,000 to four clients for lack of diligence, lack of competence and knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal. She also was cited for failing to respond to the Bar. In 2011, when Griffin was apparently living in Georgia, she was disciplined for lack of diligence, communication and violating fees and costs of legal services for two more clients during 2005 and 2006. She was suspended for a year and ordered to repay $1,344.50. Admitted to the bar in 1994, she now is listed as retired by the bar association. In an announcement of her candidacy in the Weekly Challenger newspaper this month, Griffin alluded to her past, saying the abrupt closure of her firm was a painful lesson. She said she accepted responsibility for her failures.In campaign filings, Griffin listed $44,500 in liabilities to the Florida Bar.One former client, Devontae Lawson, one of the complainants in the 2011 case, said Griffin has never paid any of the money back. He said she took $15,000 from his mother while he was incarcerated on drug charges, but didn't do any of the legal work they had asked her to do.Lawson, 38, who now lives in Tennessee, said Griffin took his family's money and then stopped communicating with them. By the time he learned the "true status of his case," according to a consent judgment, he was barred from seeking post-conviction relief. Released from prison in October, Lawson said he was shocked to learn that Griffin was now seeking a council seat."I want the city to see her for what she is," Lawson said. "I'm no politician, but she will put a black cloud over the city."City Clerk Chan Srinivasa said nothing in the city's charter or code prohibits someone with Griffin's past from being a candidate. Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8459. Follow @CharlieFrago.