Citing cooperation in trial, judge gives man probation in tax case

U.S. District Judge Robert Jones sentenced former real estate agent and mortgage broker Thomas Browne to three years probation and a $25,000 fine on Tuesday, five years after Browne entered a guilty plea to misdemeanor tax evasion and agreed to testify against his co-defendants.

"There's no need to jump on him with both feet," said Jones, who commended Browne for his "substantial cooperation" in the trial last year of Robert Kahre, the one-time owner of six construction companies in Las Vegas who paid his untaxed employees in gold and silver coins and who also, with Browne's assistance, hid millions of dollars in assets.

Kahre also paid roughly 30 business clients in the same manner, and then allowed recipients to immediately exchange the coins' market value for paper currency, telling them they could use the coins' face value for tax purposes.

Browne helped Kahre and Kahre's longtime girlfriend Danille Cline by creating false loan documents. Kahre was sentenced in November to more than 15 years in prison after a second jury trial. The first ended in a hung jury.

With about 20 supporters in the courtroom, Browne said little during the hearing. He is Kahre's former brother-in-law. Defense attorney Richard Wright said Browne had no criminal history prior to meeting Kahre, which Jones said played a role in sentencing.

Wright also argued with Jones regarding the plea agreement, and accused Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Damm of breaching an oral agreement regarding what could and could not be used against Browne in determining an appropriate sentence. The pre-sentence report recommended Browne receive a prison term.

Damm said the U.S. Department of Probation recommended incarceration, but the U.S. attorney's office was not bound by the recommendation. Like Wright, he asked Jones to grant probation.

Browne must serve the first four months of his sentence under house arrest.

Browne earned roughly $50,000 in commissions by helping Kahre avoid taxes on about $1.2 million.

Browne now owes about $49,000 in credit card debt, according to Damm, has two homes in foreclosure, and is no longer in real estate.