Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Looking in on: Courts:

Prosecutors happy to give feds first crack at Rezko

Corruption case sentencing takes precedence

Rezko

Rezko

Clark County prosecutors aren’t in a hurry to get Chicago political insider Antoin “Tony” Rezko back to Las Vegas to face felony fraud charges stemming from his failure to pay $472,275 in Strip gambling debts.

That’s because following Rezko’s corruption conviction in Chicago this month, he voluntarily surrendered to federal authorities.

“We’re coordinating our efforts with the U.S. attorney’s office there,” said Assistant District Attorney Chris Lalli. “We don’t want to pull him out of that jurisdiction in the middle of their prosecution.”

Rezko, who has political ties to Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, faces a Sept. 3 sentencing in Chicago on the corruption charges.

Lalli said his office isn’t likely to move to get Rezko to Las Vegas until after the sentencing.

He also said Rezko hasn’t made any effort to pay the $472,275 he owes in Las Vegas.

That debt includes $250,000 at Caesars Palace, $200,000 at Bally’s and fees to the district attorney’s bad check unit, which is prosecuting the case here.

Rezko had hired prominent Las Vegas attorney Richard Wright to negotiate a deal to drop the criminal charges, but District Attorney David Roger said he would dismiss the case only if the entire debt were repaid.

•••

Federal prosecutors took the unusual step late last month of publicly stating in court documents that Mark Kabins, a local spine surgeon, was the target of a criminal investigation.

They apparently mean business.

One of those prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Schiess, showed up in District Court two weeks ago to watch Kabins testify in a case filed by a man who became disabled after a 2002 car accident.

The man’s attorney, Robert Eglet, is also reported to be under scrutiny with Kabins in the government’s ongoing probe. Federal agents are investigating allegations that a group of personal injury lawyers and doctors conspired to line their pockets at the expense of patients.

The first criminal case in that investigation, the fraud trial of attorney Noel Gage, ended with a deadlocked jury in March. And a federal judge is considering whether to dismiss the charges altogether against Gage — primarily because prosecutors won’t grant Kabins immunity to testify at the retrial.

Schiess’ presence in District Court apparently rattled Kabins — and maybe even Eglet, one of the better-known medical malpractice lawyers in town.

Behind closed doors, Eglet asked District Judge David Barker for a mistrial, arguing the surgeon felt intimidated and was unwilling to testify if called upon as a witness later in the case.

Barker denied the motion.

In the end, however, the case turned out great for Eglet.

Even with federal prosecutors looking over his shoulder, he won a $4.5 million judgment for his client. With interest, the jury award is more than $6.5 million.

•••

ChartOne Inc., the company Metro Police hired to organize records seized from the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, is starting to do its job.

Attorneys in the massive litigation over the hepatitis outbreak linked to the Endoscopy Center report that the company has begun to turn over records of patients who have been infected with the virus.

That means the lawyers can start doing their jobs and go after the people responsible for the biggest medical crisis in Southern Nevada’s history.

Jeff German is the Sun’s senior investigative reporter.

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