Defense attorney: Doctor observed standard of care

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- A defense lawyer for a Las Vegas physician said Thursday his client is innocent of charges of illegally distributing prescription drugs from a pain management clinic he formerly operated in Golden Valley.

Phoenix defense attorney Dan Goldfine said Thursday that Dr. Albert Szu Sun Yeh, 44, will be exonerated of charges in a 14-count Mohave County grand jury indictment. Yeh is charged with conspiracy, assisting a criminal syndicate, money laundering and administering narcotic drugs.

"I fully intend to defend him vigorously and expect that a Kingman jury will find that Dr. Yeh's conduct was well within the standard of care for pain management in providing what was an important service and that he did so strictly in good faith," Goldfine said. He said Yeh is eager to prove his innocence and resume his pain management practice after voluntarily closing his medical offices in Las Vegas and Golden Valley.

The defendant turned himself in July 15 in Las Vegas, and he was taken to the jail in Kingman on Wednesday. Superior Court Judge Rick Williams scheduled an Aug. 7 arraignment for Yeh and reduced his bond to $50,000, from $100,000.

Goldfine said he did not think that Yeh would gain release from the Mohave County jail overnight but that friends and family probably would bail him out before arraignment. He said Yeh's ability to post bond easily was prevented by the government's seizure of some $3.9 million of his money and assets.

Assistant Arizona Attorney General Douglas Lau said the Drug Enforcement Administration thinks that Yeh has undisclosed amounts of money deposited in accounts in three separate banks in China and that the government has not been able to freeze or secure those funds. He said access to the funds would make Yeh a flight risk were he to be released from custody.

Defense attorneys argue that the flight risk assessment is offset by Yeh's desire for vindication and his wish to recover rather than forfeit assets seized by the government. They contend Yeh is well-rooted in Las Vegas, where his wife, Jennifer, operates a dental practice and their children attend school.

The pleadings indicate that Yeh was born in China but gained his medical training and licensing in Brazil. Brazilian and U.S. citizenship and ties to China further fuel the government's concern of possible flight.

"If he were going to flee to China, it would have happened long ago," Goldfine associate Craig Logsdon argued, pointing out that Yeh was aware of the investigation as far back as February when agents raided the Golden Valley clinic.

Goldfine challenged government allegations that Yeh perpetrated fraud through false insurance billing that authorities said netted the defendant an estimated $3.5 million. "Not a single insurance company has made an allegation of fraud, even though the attorney general said that in his press release," Goldfine said.

He said the indictment and allegations presented during a news conference don't reflect the facts of the case.

"It's odd for them to not want to choose to actually try the case before a jury," Goldfine said. "Rather, they want to have press conferences in Phoenix and get publicity."