Disbarred lawyer who stole another’s ID is sentenced to prison for tax evasion

A disbarred lawyer caught working under an assumed identity at a prominent Las Vegas law firm was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Tuesday for hiding $87,408 in taxes from the Internal Revenue Service.

Douglas Allen, 52, pleaded guilty in May to one count of tax evasion, acknowledging that he concealed the money on his tax returns between 2005 and 2007.

Senior U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben on Tuesday ordered Allen to pay the IRS $87,408 in restitution and serve three years of supervised released when he gets out of prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Dickinson sought the 15 months behind bars, arguing Allen committed a series of crimes, including identity theft because the State Bar of Nevada moved to take away his license in 2006.

Allen, a graduate of UNLV's Boyd Law School, was admitted to the State Bar in 2004 but consented to disbarment in January 2007 after acknowledging that he violated rules of professional conduct. He admitted settling cases without client consent and misappropriating their funds.

In December 2007, Allen used the identity of James G. Allen, a California lawyer who also is licensed in Nevada, to land a job here at the civil law firm of Lewis, Brisbois, Bigaard & Smith, according to federal court documents.

Allen used the California lawyer's Nevada bar number, with a phony Nevada driver's license and Social Security card, to get work as a lawyer for the Lewis Brisbois firm, the documents allege.

He acknowledged in the documents that he was employed at the firm from Dec. 12, 2007, through January 2008 until the firm learned that he was impersonating the California lawyer. He was fired and prosecuted for identity fraud.

A spokeswoman for Lewis Brisbois could not be reached for comment.

James Allen, 63, who runs a civil law practice in Thousand Oaks, Calif., said Tuesday that he was surprised one day when he got a call at his office from the Las Vegas firm.

"They said someone at the firm had asked why I wasn't at work, and I said, 'Wow, I am at work.' When I found out they were serious, I called the Nevada bar and the district attorney's office."

Allen, a member of the Nevada bar since 1993, said authorities already were aware of some of the disbarred lawyer's activities in Las Vegas.

"Luckily, the Nevada bar is pretty diligent," Allen said. "He had to work to do this identity theft. He was a bad actor."

According to the court documents, Douglas Allen also was a licensed attorney in Kansas between 2004 and 2006, but was disbarred after a felony theft conviction.

Dickinson argued in court papers that Allen was concealing money from the IRS while committing the other crimes.

Allen, who now lives in Houston, apologized in court to McKibben Tuesday when given a chance to speak.

"Obviously, what I did was very, very wrong," he said.

McKibben called Allen a "master" of deceiving people and said he was troubled by his pattern of misconduct.

"It's hard for me to see how you got off course the way you did," McKibben said. "I just hope you get your life turned around. At some point this has to end."

McKibben gave Allen, who is free on his own recognizance, until Nov. 19 to surrender to federal prison authorities.

The judge also ordered Allen to inform his employer in Houston about his tax evasion conviction. Allen had indicated in court papers that his employer, a health management consulting company, was not aware of the conviction.

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