Former high-profile drug prosecutor’s run from law ends in San Diego

By Las Vegas Sun Staff (contact)

Monday, Oct. 1, 2012 | 1:05 p.m.

Former Clark County prosecutor David Schubert, who had pleaded guilty last year to possession of cocaine but last month failed to show in court to begin his jail sentence, is in custody in San Diego.

The office of Louis Schneider, Schubert’s attorney, said it received word about midmorning Monday that Schubert was being detained in San Diego. The office did said it did not know the circumstances of how Schubert came to be detained, and as of noon Schneider had not yet talked to Schubert.

Schneider, his office said, intends to tell Schubert to waive extradition so that he can return to Nevada as soon as possible.

Schubert prosecuted several high-profile Las Vegas drug cases, including plea deals with celebrities Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars. But Schubert resigned from the Clark County District Attorney’s Office in March 2011 after he was arrested with a $40 rock of cocaine and an unregistered handgun in his car. He pleaded guilty in September 2011.

Schubert subsequently was sentenced to a maximum of 40 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. But Schubert remained free while he challenged his sentence on the grounds that the sentencing judge showed bias against him at the sentencing hearing.

In June, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the sentence.

When Schubert failed surrender to authorities on Sept. 21 to begin his sentence, Clark County District Judge Carolyn Ellsworth issued a no-bail warrant for his arrest. Media reports indicate Schubert boarded a plane that morning for San Diego with the intent of going to Mexico.

Schubert’s disappearance came a day after the Nevada Supreme Court temporarily suspended his license to practice law. The justices unanimously agreed his license should be suspended because of his guilty plea. The Nevada State Bar would determine the length of his suspension.