June 4, 2010 - LAS VEGAS—Local lawyer Noel Gage was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Justin L. Quackenbush to three years probation, 90 days of home confinement, and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, following his guilty plea to felony obstruction of justice charges, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada. Gage must also pay $702,600 to former client Melodie Simon.
Gage, 72, pleaded guilty on February 23, 2010, to one count of obstruction of justice. According to the plea agreement, the government maintained that it would prove at trial that a federal Grand Jury issued a subpoena to Gage’s law firm in September 2006 for documents relating to any agreements or fee arrangements between Gage and Howard Awand in connection with a particular case. Today, the Court found that Gage intentionally obstructed justice by not disclosing documents called for by the subpoena.
Gage and Awand were originally charged with conspiracy and fraud in 2007 and accused of being part of a network of Las Vegas physicians and lawyers who allegedly defrauded clients by protecting doctors from malpractice lawsuits and sharing kickbacks from legal settlements. Gage was also charged with one count of obstruction of justice for allegedly concealing documents from the grand jury investigating the case. In March 2009, Dr. Mark Kabins was also charged with fraud and conspiracy for his alleged role in the scheme.
Consistent with the plea agreement, the Court today dismissed the conspiracy and fraud counts against Gage, and Gage is required to return to Melodie Simon his attorney’s fees in the amount of $702,600.
The plea agreement allowed Gage to plead guilty under a provision of law that allowed him to maintain his innocence while simultaneously pleading guilty to obstruction of justice. The so-called Alford plea is named after the 1970 United States Supreme Court decision of North Carolina v. Alford, which allows a defendant to enter a plea of guilty, and to be found guilty, while maintaining innocence to a criminal charge.
Mark Kabins M.D. pleaded guilty on November 23, 2009, to one count of misprision of felony, and was sentenced on January 14, 2010, to five years of probation, six months of home confinement, 250 hours of community work service, and ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution.
Howard Awand pleaded guilty on March 8, 2010, to misprision of a felony, and is scheduled for sentencing on June 25, 2010, at 9:00 a.m.
The case was investigated by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Steven W. Myhre and Daniel R. Schiess.
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2 comments:
Just as guilty but not charged is the Vegas media and press, who have destroyed any possibility of future "whistleblowers" ever coming forward, notwithstanding the AB10 passage. The press [JaneAnn] surely was paid or provided future favors by physicians and lawyers to continue trashing "whistleblowers" It is now business as usual again with the Gage team repositioned for more lien work.
Thanks Noel Gage..
What did unfold is the total self destruction of Western Regional's once prime spine business.
Nobody want to take call at Sunrise or UMC and some simply can't.. Heck, Henderson police stopped some with sniffing powder but got a pass with a large denotation.
The partners are so jealous that they shoot themselves frequently and are now on life support,some like the "Dr. Duke" of Hazzard are just greedy and cluless, while Dr. Smith's passport keep getting stamped leaving the States for foreign cash. Not to worry, they all have deep pockets and can still bribe the media and misdirect facts with there chubby little reporter. One of them even employed Gage's mother...
What a tangled web they weave.
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