The prosecutor in the Duke University lacrosse team rape case was disbarred Saturday for unethical conduct, and the chairman of the disciplinary committee blamed "political ambition" for his downfall.

Earlier Saturday, the panel of the North Carolina State Bar concluded that Durham County, North Carolina, District Attorney Mike Nifong violated more than a dozen ethics rules in prosecuting the case against the now-exonerated players.

"We had a prosecutor who was faced with a very unusual situation in which the confluence of his self-interest collided with a very volatile mix of race, sex and class."

The panel determined Nifong withheld key DNA evidence from the players' defense attorneys that might have cleared them earlier, and lied to the presiding judge and state bar investigators.

The three students -- Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans -- were accused of sexually assaulting an escort-service dancer at a party in March 2006.

Two DNA tests found no match between any of the three men and evidence in the case, but Nifong -- who was up for re-election at the time -- pursued the prosecution anyway.

North Carolina's attorney general eventually took over the case and in April of this year determined the charges were unfounded and said Nifong would face a state bar disciplinary hearing.