Ex-UMC boss hears charges

Lacy Thomas was once hailed as a savior.

Four years later, the man county officials tapped to turn around the financially troubled University Medical Center stands charged with enriching his friends with no-work hospital contracts that cost the public hospital as much as $10 million.

In an indictment made public Wednesday in District Court, Thomas was charged with five counts of theft and five counts of misconduct by a public officer.

Prosecutor Scott Mitchell said Thomas treated Clark County's only public hospital as a financial trough to pay old pals from his days at Chicago's largest public hospital.

"He was above the law," Mitchell said.

Thomas believed "he would never get in trouble for giving public money, taxpayer money, to his friends."

As an example, the prosecutor pointed to testimony by county lawyer Mary Miller. She told the grand jury that during a meeting with Thomas shortly after he took over, he told her he didn't care about laws or regulations regarding hospital contracts, Mitchell said.

"Her job was to find a way around the law," he said.

Thomas sat silently in the courtroom during the brief hearing Wednesday. His lawyer, Daniel Albregts, said his client has maintained his innocence all along.

"He has no reason today to believe he has done anything wrong," Albregts told District Judge David Barker. "When the facts come out, we believe they will show he has done nothing wrong."

Thomas hasn't been able to find another job since he was fired more than a year ago because of his tarnished reputation, Albregts said. Thomas has put up his house for sale because he can't afford it, but he will stay in Las Vegas and fight to clear his name, the lawyer said.

If convicted on all the charges, Thomas could face 10 to 70 years in prison.

Barker ordered Thomas to report to the Clark County Detention Center to be fingerprinted and photographed. He also ordered Thomas to post $500,000 bail by his next court date on Feb. 28 or be held in jail while his case moves along.

The grand jury issued the indictment after meeting for four days over the past five weeks to hear testimony and evidence culled during a Las Vegas police investigation that began in November 2006.

Witnesses who testified before the grand jury included County Manager Virginia Valentine, her predecessor, Thom Reilly, county financial officers and two former top UMC executives who said they resigned because of Thomas' conduct.

The indictment names five companies that authorities say were awarded no-work or unnecessary hospital contracts thanks to their ties to Thomas.

One of those companies, ACS Consultant Co., was run by Thomas' longtime friends or associates, the indictment states.

The contract was "grossly unfavorable" to the hospital and required UMC to pay ACS for work already being done by the county, according to the indictment.

ACS's lawyer, Don Campbell, said he was shocked to see the company named in the indictment because the company has cooperated at every step of the investigation, he said.

After reading the indictment, Campbell said it sounded like authorities were trying to equate what might be an unfavorable business deal with a crime.

"That's nonsense," he said. "That is not a criminal act."

In fact, ACS has sued UMC over the contract dispute, claiming the hospital owes it about $1 million.

Other companies named in the indictment include Las Vegas-based TBL Construction, Premier Alliance Management, Crystal Communications and Frasier Systems Group.

TBL Construction did not return a call for comment. Representatives of the other companies, which are based in Illinois, could not be reached.

Premier Alliance Management was owned by Orlando Jones, godson and one-time chief of staff to Cook County Board President John Stroger, an influential player in Chicago politics whose name graces the county hospital once run by Thomas.

Jones shot and killed himself in September on the shores of Lake Michigan. He also co-owned Crystal Communications with Martello Pollock.

Frasier Systems, which received hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting work from UMC, had no other clients besides the hospital and was headquartered in the garage of a house owned by the mother of company owner Gregory Boone, Mitchell said in court.

"The pattern of deception was just ongoing out there," he said.

Mitchell said Thomas initially denied friendships with the company owners in a "conscious effort to cover up the relationships" until he was confronted with evidence by detectives.

District Attorney David Roger said the investigation was ongoing and other people involved in the case could face charges.

Thomas was fired in January 2007 on the same day detectives raided UMC's executive offices in search of evidence.

Valentine said the decision was based on Thomas' misleading updates to county commissioners about the hospital's dire financial situation. The county eventually paid $60 million to bail out the hospital.

The County Commission is expected to name a permanent successor next month.

Dr. Richard Singer, a Las Vegas anesthesiologist who has questioned Thomas' dealings with physician contracts in the past, said he wasn't surprised the former UMC chief was charged.

UMC lost numerous staffers who disagreed with Thomas' approach to running the hospital. The hospital's foundation folded and a national nonprofit that raises money for children's hospitals pulled out of UMC while Thomas had the reins, Singer said.

Commissioner Rory Reid said Thomas' indictment further erodes public trust in local leaders, noting that three former commissioners are serving federal prison sentences for taking bribes.

"The impact of this is significant," Reid said. "It's disappointing because it gives people reasons to be cynical and distrust government."

Local leaders now must work even harder to restore citizens' confidence in government, Reid said.

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said he became suspicious in 2006 when Thomas kept refusing to give full financial reports on the hospital. Woodbury recalled asking Valentine to fire Thomas, but she opted to wait until police dug deeper before firing him last year.

"If it turns out that the people of Clark County were victims of criminal activity by a public official, I sure hope that justice runs its course," Woodbury said.

Review-Journal writers Scott Wyland and Annette Wells contributed to this report. Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0281.