Saying he "usurped the role of 12 Maryland citizens, and substituted it with his own paternal instincts," a split Court of Appeals yesterday revoked the law license of a former Silver Spring man who spirited his son to Israel in 1997 to avoid a murder trial.

Sol Sheinbein helped his son Samuel, then 17, flee after the teen-ager admitted that he and a friend killed, dismembered and burned the remains of 19-year-old Alfredo E. Tello Jr., according to court records. The teen-ager's parents later followed their youngest child to Israel.

Samuel Sheinbein's successful extradition fight, guilty plea to murder in an Israeli court and 24-year prison term - when he could have received up to life in prison if convicted in Maryland - strained U.S.-Israeli diplomatic ties, infuriated many in Montgomery County's Hispanic community and created a high-profile international case.

Because Sol Sheinbein was born in pre-state Israel, Israeli courts considered him and his family Israeli citizens not subject to extradition.

Sol Sheinbein "made it impossible for the justice system to work," Judge Dale R. Cathell wrote for the majority in the 5-2 decision.

Out of the country, the elder Sheinbein is out of reach of Maryland courts, where he is charged with two misdemeanors.

Melvin G. Bergman, Sheinbein's attorney, said he did not know what effects the disbarment would have. He said he has left word of the court's ruling for his client.

But Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler, who was poised to prosecute the son on a murder charge and the father on charges of blocking the investigation, said that yesterday's ruling is likely to make it difficult for the elder Sheinbein to work in Israel.

Sol Sheinbein is a patent lawyer whose clients include American companies operating in Israel.

"It is our understanding he is using his law license to make a lucrative income," Gansler said. "He would need a U.S. law license to do what he is doing."

Melvin Hirshman, bar counsel for the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission, said other federal and state law licensing agencies will not license someone who is disbarred, and most take action against lawyers who are disbarred elsewhere.

The disbarment case against Sol Sheinbein involved his actions after the September 1997 killing, in which the younger Sheinbein and his friend Aaron B. Needle quickly became suspects.

Sol Sheinbein told a grand jury that he had read the search warrant and agreed to tell police of his son's whereabouts if he heard from him.

But the elder Sheinbein sent the teen-ager to Israel before he knew police obtained an arrest warrant for him. He contended that the youth, in New York with Needle, was suicidal and that he was trying to keep him safe and apart from Needle.

Needle, 18, returned home and hanged himself in his jail cell on the eve of his trial in April 1998.

Bergman argued in court this year that Sol Sheinbein only blocked the police from talking to his son.

The appeals court, however, said the elder Sheinbein knew his son was involved in the killing and sent him out of the country to avoid facing charges.

In their dissenting opinion, John C. Eldridge and Irma S. Raker said Sol Sheinbein had no legal obligation to tell police where his son was until police issued an arrest warrant. The Sheinbein family's attorney was not told that police had the warrant until after the teen-ager had left the country.