TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has indefinitely suspended a Topeka attorney’s law license.

The state’s high court handed down on Friday a more severe penalty against Wendell Betts than the two-year suspension recommended by a disciplinary panel. The effective date was made retroactive to the September 2013 date an administrative hearing.

The Supreme Court said that given Betts disciplinary record and his current problems, a more severe discipline than recommended by the panel should be imposed.

A disciplinary panel found Betts had been previously disciplined on five occasions, and had engaged in a pattern of criminal misconduct and abuse of alcohol and use of illegal drugs.

Betts could eventually petition for reinstatement, but would be required to establish he has complied with certain conditions, such as abstinence from alcohol and drugs.