Members of the Bar meet behind bars

If ever a literary line was misunderstood, it has to be, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

When Shakespeare put those words in Dick the butcher's mouth in "Henry VI, Part II," he wasn't actually endorsing the idea. On the contrary. If we lose our ethical practitioners in the justice system, then crime and anarchy are sure to follow.

Besides, if you eliminated all the lawyers, who would be left to prosecute all the local attorneys who have found themselves playing the role of defendant in federal court in recent years?

Maybe you haven't noticed, but enough lawyers have been indicted on tax fraud and other criminal cases to fill a Bar Association luncheon.

Or as I like to call it, the Clark County Behind Bars Association.

On Monday afternoon, for instance, veteran Southern Nevada attorney Charles Lobello is scheduled for sentencing. He was indicted in June 2010 for filing a series of false tax returns from 2001-2005. In 2001, he made more than $203,000, claimed just $24,000, and had write-offs topping $372,000.

And I thought Shakespeare was a creative writer.

Attorney Ian Christopherson is set for sentencing next month following his tax conviction for sleight of hand dating back to the early 1990s.

According to his indictment, he used "a bank account at First Citizen's Bank which was established in the names of nominees and other persons, to conceal money and assets, and to pay the defendant's expenses, while defendant continues to owe an outstanding individual income tax liability."

That trick didn't work, either. Word is Christopherson's next employer is the law firm of Dewey, Cheatam & Howe.

In September, attorney Douglas Allen is scheduled to be sentenced in a case covering the tax years 2005-2007. In his plea agreement, he signed off on a single tax evasion charge, and agreed to pay more than $87,000 in restitution.

And in October, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Wommer is set to go to trial on multiple counts of structuring financial transactions to avoid currency-reporting requirements. Guilt or innocence aside, the federal court veteran won't be able to plead ignorance.

But wait, there's more.

When Mark Lobello took a plea deal in his income tax evasion case, the lawyer agreed to a single felony conviction, a 15-month sentence, and more than $141,000 in restitution in an investigation that covered five years of his tax returns.

When the IRS finally finished tallying personal injury attorney Edmund Botha's tax evasion issues, he must have felt like he'd been hit by a crosstown bus. Botha received a five-year sentence from U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson and was ordered to pay more than $685,000 in back taxes.

Then there's my favorite tax scofflaw lawyer, attorney William S. Reed. He bilked suckers for a bundle with his "Bulletproof Asset Protection" book and fraudulent tax avoidance programs. Now Reed, former Las Vegan Wendell Waite, and Richard Neiswonger have plenty of time to write their prison memoirs following the breakup of a scam that by one estimate generated more than $60 million.

Add to that the vanload of lawyers caught up in the ongoing corruption investigation of local homeowners associations and the construction defect racket - Jeanne Winckler, and the deceased Nancy Quon and David Amesbury - and the Clark County Behind Bars Association comes into sharp focus.

Although he's probably partial to accountants, IRS Special Agent in Charge Paul Camacho says, "The vast majority of attorneys are honest and hard working. We just follow the money. That's all we do. We're an equal opportunity investigative agency."

True enough, but IRS appears to have identified a target-rich environment.

Kill all the lawyers?

That's impractical ­- and not just because they replicate so rapidly. But getting them to pay their fair share to Uncle Sam doesn't seem like too much to ask.

I'll bring up the issue at the next meeting of the Clark County Behind Bars Association.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith. Follow him on Twitter @jlnevadasmith.