Attorney sentenced to probation for obstructing justice

In sentencing Noel Gage to probation Thursday, a federal judge described the longtime lawyer as "a good man who made a serious mistake."

"I don't think you belong in prison or in jail," Senior U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush told the defendant. "You're going to suffer from the terms and conditions of probation I'm going to impose."

The judge also pointed out that Gage, 72, already has suffered community disgrace and probably will face the suspension of his law license.

Prosecutors had accused Gage of participating in a network of Las Vegas physicians and lawyers who defrauded clients by protecting doctors from malpractice lawsuits and sharing kickbacks from legal settlements.

After defending himself in court for nearly three years, Gage resolved his criminal case in February by pleading guilty to obstruction of justice. He entered an Alford plea, which is a type of guilty plea that allows him to maintain his innocence.

"I'm hoping I can now begin to put this behind me," Gage said at his sentencing hearing.

Also charged in the case were medical consultant Howard Awand and surgeon Mark Kabins. Although all three defendants have pleaded guilty to felonies, the case did not result in a single fraud conviction.

The obstruction charge against Gage stemmed from an allegation that the attorney had failed to disclose three checks he had written, totaling $1.1 million, as required by a grand jury subpoena. On Thursday, Quackenbush concluded that Gage had intentionally withheld the records.

Gage said he had assumed incorrectly that all the pertinent documents had been provided to the U.S. attorney's office in response to the subpoena.

"I was the captain of the ship and ultimately responsible for that failure, which I deeply regret," he told the judge.

Quackenbush, a visiting judge from Washington who agreed to handle the case three years ago after all other U.S. district judges in Nevada had recused themselves, spoke at length before sentencing Gage in the packed courtroom.

The judge said he had imposed thousands of sentences throughout the United States, but Thursday's hearing marked the first time he had sentenced a fellow member of the bar.

Quackenbush wondered aloud whether circumstances in Gage's life, such as financial responsibilities he had assumed and personal losses he had suffered, had played a role in the lawyer's "ungodly drive for the almighty dollar."

"These circumstances for some reason overcame your better judgment," Quackenbush told the defendant.

Gage arranged to move his ex-wife, with whom he shared a 30-year marriage, to Nevada after multiple sclerosis forced her to retire in 2006 from her position on the Michigan Court of Appeals. The pair had three children together, and their only son died in 1974 at the age of 6 from dysautonomia, a disease of the autonomic nervous system.

Gage and his current wife, Ivy, have three daughters. Ivy Gage, also an attorney, attended her husband's sentencing.

Quackenbush placed Gage on three years of probation. The judge also ordered Gage to spend 90 days on house arrest and pay a $25,000 fine.

Gage previously paid more than $700,000 to a former client as part of his plea agreement in the case.

Quackenbush said the fraud prosecution should send a message to all types of professionals that the best interests of their patients, clients or stockholders must take precedence over the "human failing of greed."

"That greed, in my judgment, should not be allowed to overcome the fiduciary responsibility," the judge said.

Awand and Kabins each have pleaded guilty in the case to misprision of felony, which involves a failure to report the criminal activity of others. Kabins was sentenced to five years of probation, and Awand's sentencing is scheduled for June 25.

Two surgeons, John Thalgott and Benjamin Venger, were granted immunity in exchange for their testimony in the fraud case, which centered on the medical malpractice case of Melodie Simon, who was paralyzed after Thalgott and Kabins operated on her in 2000.

Gage represented Simon in the malpractice case. Rather than sue Thalgott or Kabins, the lawyer sued anesthesiologist Daniel Burkhead.

The malpractice case settled for $2.3 million, but prosecutors argued it was worth much more. After attorney fees and costs were deducted, Simon received $1.3 million.

Kabins' plea agreement required him to pay her an additional $3.5 million, and Gage's deal required him to pay her about $700,000. Thalgott voluntarily paid Simon $1.5 million in restitution.

Simon spoke at Gage's sentencing hearing and said the case caused her to lose her trust in lawyers. She said she has learned to forgive, but she cannot forget.

"I'm starting to rebuild my trust in people, especially lawyers and doctors," she said.

Burkhead attended the hearing but declined to comment afterward.

Since the inception of the case, Gage has maintained that he did nothing unethical or illegal. Had he sued Thalgott and Kabins, rather than Burkhead, the lawyer said after Thursday's hearing, "Melodie Simon would have gotten a big goose egg" and been responsible for the opposing parties' costs and attorney fees.

"If I had to do it over again -- but for the wrongful prosecution -- I would have sued the same people, if I wanted to obtain the best result for my client," Gage told the Review-Journal.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.