Former Clark County prosecutor convicted in drug case missing

David Schubert, the former Clark County prosecutor who lost his job after he was arrested for buying $40 worth of cocaine, failed to surrender to authorities in court Friday to start serving a jail sentence.

His lawyer, Louis Schneider, said he doesn't know Schubert's whereabouts and is concerned for his safety.

"He has just disappeared," Schneider said. "He felt that he let the district attorney's office down. He was so proud to be an attorney, and when they took away his license yesterday, he was extremely despondent."

The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily suspended Schubert from practicing law as a result of his guilty plea last year to the drug charge.

The court referred the matter to the State Bar of Nevada to determine the "extent of discipline" against the former chief deputy district attorney.

Schubert, 48, who handled the celebrity drug cases of Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars, was sentenced to nine months in jail, but he remained free while he challenged the sentence. He had to turn himself in after the high court earlier refused to delay his sentence while it considered his appeal.

Schneider said his client was supposed to appear before District Judge Carolyn Ellsworth at 9 a.m. Friday to surrender but didn't show up.

Ellsworth issued a warrant from the bench for his arrest and ordered his probation officer to look for Schubert at his Las Vegas home, Schneider said.

Schubert wasn't at the home, but all of his personal belongings and his car were there, Schneider said, adding he has not heard from the former prosecutor.

Schneider said Schubert was encouraged by his chances of winning his appeal, but he became depressed after the Supreme Court issued the suspension order.

"He was so distraught," Schneider said. "He promised his two little kids that he wasn't going to jail."

At his February sentencing, Ellsworth called him "a disgrace to his oath as a prosecutor and a lawyer."

The 10-year prosecutor handled Hilton's case after she was arrested in August 2010. Las Vegas police had taken her into custody after 0.8 grams of cocaine fell out of her handbag when the vehicle she was traveling in was stopped on the Strip. She received a year of probation on misdemeanor cocaine charges.

Schubert also prosecuted Grammy-winning pop singer and songwriter Bruno Mars, who was arrested in a 2010 drug bust at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Mars pleaded guilty to felony cocaine possession, and the case against him was dismissed in January after the singer fulfilled all of his sentencing obligations, including performing more than 200 hours of community service.

Police arrested Schubert in March 2011 after they watched a man get out of his car, go into an apartment complex and return. Officers then found Schubert with the small amount of cocaine and confiscated a 9 mm handgun from his car.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.