Disbarred Las Vegas attorney pleads guilty to felonies

Disbarred Las Vegas attorney Lawrence Davidson pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony charges as part of a binding agreement with federal prosecutors that could land him in prison for more than 8½ years.

The plea deal also calls for Davidson to pay $932,802 in restitution.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported earlier this month that the deal had been reached, resolving four cases against Davidson.

Davidson, 45, is the last defendant in a political corruption investigation that led to the convictions of four Clark County commissioners in the early 2000s.

Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt set a Sept. 3 sentencing for Davidson.

If Hunt hands out a different sentence than what was negotiated in the binding agreement, Davidson would be free to withdraw his guilty pleas, Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said in a statement.

Davidson, who fled to Israel in September 2006 rather than face two criminal trials, came back to the United States in September and surrendered to the FBI.

One of the cases involved fraud and money laundering charges stemming from irregularities in his Las Vegas law practice.

He also faced trial on conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering charges in the political corruption case.

While he was at large, Davidson was secretly indicted on charges of failing to appear at the trial, obtaining a false passport and engaging in identity theft to flee the country.

Davidson, who once practiced personal injury and medical malpractice law, was accused in the fraud case of negotiating settlements on behalf of his clients without their permission. The 2005 indictment alleged that he fraudulently negotiated 17 settlements totaling $936,300 during a 14-month period.

Davidson, who has been in custody since he surrendered to the FBI, pleaded guilty Wednesday to 20 counts of mail fraud and four counts of money laundering in that case.

He also pleaded guilty to four charges in the false passport case.

And Davidson entered a guilty plea to violating the terms of his supervised release in an earlier forgery case.

According to his plea agreement, prosecutors will move to dismiss the charges against Davidson in the corruption case at his sentencing.

The case was a spinoff of the sweeping corruption scheme involving former strip club operator Michael Galardi, who pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors.

Four former county commissioners, Erin Kenny, Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, Dario Herrera and Lance Malone, ended up with federal prison terms in the scheme.

Davidson and his father, former development company executive Donald Davidson, were charged separately in a bribery conspiracy that involved getting a CVS Pharmacy placed in a neighborhood.

The elder Davidson was accused of paying Kenny $200,000 after she helped push through the necessary zoning changes for the pharmacy. His son was alleged to have created the bank account to conceal the illicit payments. Kenny cooperated with prosecutors.

In July 2007, a federal jury was hung on the charges involving Kenny but convicted Donald Davidson of trying to pay off former City Councilman Michael McDonald. Davidson later was sentenced to two years in prison.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.