Can the state disbar an attorney who was not admitted to practice in the first place?

The Legal Profession Blog is reporting today that the Maryland Court of Appeals disbarred an attorney who had never been admitted in that jurisdiction.

This may sound a bit odd -after all, what authority or "jurisdiction" can a state have over someone who was never admitted? - but I don't think it is that uncommon to hear about states imposing discipline on attorneys who are not admitted in the state. This happens, of course, when a person is trying to practice law in a state without a license. But it does raise an interesting question, assuming the state has, in addition, to the rules of conduct, a specific statute that makes it illegal to practice law without a license, why bother imposing sanctions?

In the Maryland case, the court answers the question this way: "It is of no consequence that [the attorney] has never been admitted to the Maryland Bar." The order "operates as an immediate directive that [the attprney] 'promptly notify the disciplinary authority in each jurisdiction in which [she] is admitted to practice of the disciplinary sanction imposed by [this Court].'"