Kabins to enter plea, get no jail time

Informed sources confirm Dr. Mark Kabins will receive no jail time when, barring a last-minute delay, he pleads guilty to a misprision of a felony charge this afternoon at U.S. District Court as part of the FBI’s ongoing doctor-lawyer fraud investigation.

The United States Criminal Code defines misprision of a felony this way: “Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both."

It’s a wrist slap that raises more questions than it answers in the lengthy government probe. Although it’s a victory for the government as it goes after attorney Noel Gage and medical consultant Howard Awand, it remains unclear whether the Kabins conviction will substantially benefit the prosecution in the upcoming trial.

There’s also an ongoing investigation into the activities of numerous other local attorneys, who are suspected of cutting deals with doctors to score big fees in malpractice cases.

Read more in my Tuesday column in the Review-Journal.