U.S. judge won’t free Las Vegas attorney Noel Gage from probation
A federal judge has denied a request by suspended Las Vegas lawyer Noel Gage to end probation early.
Gage, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to obstruction of justice, last month asked U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush of Spokane, Wash., to drop the remaining two years of his probation so he could explore business opportunities outside of the law.
The federal case against Gage stemmed from allegations that he participated in a network of Las Vegas physicians and lawyers who defrauded clients by protecting doctors from malpractice lawsuits and sharing kickbacks from legal settlements.
Gage, 73, fought the case for years before pleading guilty to the felony obstruction charge. He entered a type of guilty plea that allowed him to maintain his innocence.
Gage's obstruction charge stemmed from an allegation that he failed to disclose three checks he wrote totaling $1.1 million, as required by a grand jury subpoena.
A probation officer, Rusty Ellis, reported to the judge that Gage had fulfilled all requirements of his first year of probation, including spending the first three months on home confinement and paying a $25,000 fine, court documents show.
Gage had paid more than $700,000 to a former client as part of his plea agreement in the high-profile fraud case.
Defense attorney Tom Pitaro had asked the judge to end the probation so Gage could be free to travel on short notice to seek business opportunities in other states.
In denying the request, Quackenbush did order that Gage be allowed to travel without obtaining prior permission from the court: He need only give notice to his probation officer of the travel dates, destinations, length of travel time and notice of return.
Pitaro was not immediately available for comment.
Gage is not the only defendant in the case asking for early clemency from probation.
Recently, Dr. Mark Kabins asked Quackenbush to drop the remaining 42 months of his five years probation so the physician could try to regain approval from medical and insurance entities that dropped him after he pleaded guilty in the case.
Kabins, who pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, admitted he approached medical consultant Howard Awand and asked him to persuade a patient's attorney, Gage, not to sue him and his partner, Dr. John Thalgott, over a spinal surgery performed in 2000.
The patient, Melodie Simon, was paralyzed after the surgery.
Kabins, Thalgott, Awand and Gage then plotted to shift the blame for Simon's paralysis to an anesthesiologist. In exchange, Gage received a referral for a lucrative personal injury case from Awand.
Kabins, Gage and Awand were convicted. Thalgott cooperated with authorities.
Court documents show Kabins has paid Simon $3.5 million as part of the plea agreement. Kabins also has met all the conditions of his probation, including serving 340 hours of community service and attending a medical ethics class.
Kabins is on the staff of North Vista Hospital in North Las Vegas.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at
fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.
