The details of Dr. Mark Kabins' plea agreement have been released, and (sadly) there was no accompanying idiot parade.Kabins and the U.S. Attorneys agreed to five years of probation, six months of home detention, and 250 hours of community service. Additionally, Kabins will pay $3.5 million in restitution to victim Melodie Simon. Ouch! The actual charge to which Kabins pled is "misprision of a felony."
Perhaps more important than his punishment, however, is what Kabins has actually admitted as part of the agreement, from the LV Sun:
In pleading guilty, Kabins admitted that on Aug. 3, 2000, he assisted another orthopedic surgeon, Dr. John Thalgott, in a surgery on Simon, a former Olympian who became paralyzed from complications that arose after the surgery. In the plea, Kabins admitted he knew he could be sued and asked Awand, a medical consultant who referred personal injury cases to him and other lawyers, to persuade Simon’s attorney, Noel Gage, not to sue him or Thalgott, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.Some are downplaying the significance of Kabins plea, but 6 months detention and $3.5 million in restitution constitute more than a "slap on the wrist." It seems to us that with this plea and Kabins' cooperation, the U.S. Attorneys are getting just what they wanted: Kabins' testimony without releasing him from culpability.
Kabins, the attorney’s office said, believed that Awand would corruptly attempt to persuade Gage by referring lucrative personal injury cases to Gage; after receiving referrals from Awand, Gage sued neither Kabins nor Thalgott and instead sued an anesthesiologist, Dr. Daniel Burkhead.
Kabins said Gage didn’t sue him because Awand had referred cases to him, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
To help Gage sue the anesthesiologist, Dr. Kabins drafted a “letter of complaint” from which he intentionally omitted information about his secret dealings with Gage and information about Simon’s medical condition following her surgery.
Additionally, LV Now is reporting that part of the plea deal forbids Kabins from pleading the Fifth if/when he is called to testify against Awand and/or Gage. So there's that.
We're anxious to hear from both sides ... what do you guys think about the deal?
Didn't Melody get a jury award of $2.1 million? She has now received "restitution" of $1.5 million for Thalgott and $3.5 million for Kabins. Granted, she was injured catastrophically; however, it is interesting to see that the "restitution" payments now greatly exceed the total value of her case, as determined by the jury. Just sayin'
ReplyDeleteIt was a settlement, not a jury verdict.
ReplyDeleteWhy do people act like it is against the law to strategically sue one person and not another? Gage was completely in his right to sue Burkhead. If his client wanted to go after somebody else, whom Gage didn't want to sue, then she certainly could have gone to another attorney.
Also, this posts implies that Kabins is going to "cooperate" with the feds, which is something that none of the plea information has stated. I think we're jumping the gun a little. It may very well be that he has agreed to cooperate and roll on Awand/Vannah/Eglet. However, at this point, there is nothing stating that this is the case. However, I will say that IF Kabins rolls on Awand, then it will likely be a downward spiral for the other attorneys/doctors.
Uhhhhh she's paralyzed. Give her a couple mil...and a couple more from Awand and Gage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with others in previous posts that there probably won't be much more coming out of this case, as far as other indictments go. Lucky Eglet and Co. Oops.
According to the Sun article: "Defense attorney David Chesnoff says the plea deal does not compel Kabins to testify against anyone else."
ReplyDeleteAt this point, this is a complete pyrrhic victory.
@9:13
ReplyDeleteIt's not against the law to strategically decide not to sue one person if you think that's what's best for your client's case (although you should certainly discuss that with your client). But it is against the law (or at least a massive ethics violation) to convince your client not to sue your friend who refers you a ton of business through your "medical consultant" Howard Awand. Not suing is not the issue. The issue is convincing your client not to sue someone with whom you have a business relationship.
Exactly, but you hit the nail on the head. It is an ethical violation, not a crime. Period. Should he be disbarred? Yes. Should he GO TO PRISON? No.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine all the people who will, without a doubt, proclaim that Kabins wouldn't have pled unless he did something wrong. If this is the case, then I'm assuming all you defense attorneys will chime in an explain how settling a case doesn't necessarily mean you are saying your guilty, it is just avoid uncertainty, right?
Regarding 9:13:
ReplyDeleteThat's even worse. By settling, Simon AGREED that her case ws worth the $2.1 million. What basis is there for "restitution"?
Boy, this got Libo Agwara off the radar.
ReplyDelete@ 8:52
ReplyDelete...and she does not have to pay any attorney's fees out of the $5 million restitution (so she did make out 'better' in the end, I'm glad).
Personally, if I were her, I'd give it all back, though, to not be paralyzed. There is no "too much" in these situations.
@9:13
The 'issue' is NOT the choice not to sue Kabins, the 'issue' is whether Melody was consulted properly by counsel? Did Gage withhold information from his client or push her not to sue Kabins for the purpose of getting new cases worth more? Did Gage use his position of power over his client, take control from her while she was vulnerable and gain a personal benefit from this abuse?
Answer those questions...
Oh, when you are specifically restrained from utilizing the 5th amendment in future testimony, that means he will testify against others...albeit, the testimony may suck, but he will have no protection.
@ 9:33
It is an ethical violation & a crime. You can couch it however you want, but conspiracy covers all acts of criminal behavior, like fraud, even if the underlying crime is not committed. So, if Gage conspired to withhold information from his client that stole money from her and gave it to himself (via more cases), that is conspiracy to commit fraud, whether or not the fraud actually occurred in irrelevant.
No wonder lawyers have a bad reputation.
ReplyDeleteThis is still light years away from holding Awand and his crew crminally responsible for the most heinous and nefarious aspects of their ongoing party.
ReplyDeleteHow did the US Attorney get this so wrong?
Attorneys Howard, Fine, and Howard are doing a hell of a job prosecuting this thing.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion on this whole matter has officially changed. Before I thought Kabins, Gage and Awand would not be convicted because they would stand together. If it is true that Kabins has agreed that he cannot take the 5th, I now believe that Gage and Awand will go down.
ReplyDeleteI don't know Howard but I think I know enough about him to say that if he goes down, he will sing like a bird. I'm sure Eglet and Vannah will put up a strong front but I've got to believe that Awand caving has got to scare them to death.
@ 10:35
ReplyDeleteYou got it all wrong. I'm sorry, but you got think of this in terms of a chess match. In this chess match, Eglet and Vannah are the kings. Awand is the queen. When the Queen falls, the king is soon to follow.
From a strategic standpoint, what the feds have done is brilliant. They now have Kabins and Thalgott willing to testify that Awand and Gage entered into a crimanal conspiracy. Awand will attempt to avoid prison time. How does he do that? By selling out Eglet and Vannah.
Not to be a spoil sport or anything like that, but when will I open the newspaper and see the headline: "Insurance Insider Drops Dime on Insurance Industry Conspiracy to Rape the Public!"
ReplyDeleteSubtag: "El Presidente Che Obama Threatens to take back a trillion or two from insurance bailout money if cover-up not made quickly enough to distract mindless voters."
@ 10:50 AM
ReplyDeleteAh, someone that get it!!
10:50:
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with you that IF Awand rolls, then the rest are history, I don't think that is as sure a thing as you make it out to be....YET.
You say that the government has "Kabins and Thalgott willing to testify that Awand and Gage entered into a crimanal conspiracy." This isn't necessarily true. First, we all saw how Thalgott's testimony turned out the first round. Second, Kabins' testimony is no slam dunk. Sure he will testify, but he has already said he is not cooperating, and I would imagine his testimony is going to be garbage. You cannot look at Kabins as another Thalgott/Venger-it just isn't the same.
That being said, I again agree that if Awand gets enough pressure on him to roll on Vannah/Eglet, then it's lights out. I'm just not sure how likely that is to happen.
Also, I agree with the earlier poster-the government has done a terrible job with this case. To now act as this is just part of their plan, and that they have been in control the whole time is laughable.
I can't wait for the Gage ads with the American Flag in the background. Truly wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThe feds move very slowly and deliberately. It's probably premature for Eglet and Vannah to be retaining sentencing consultants, but they are at risk. This could go either way.
ReplyDeleteI agree it is too early, and could go either way. However, I do not agree that the feds are moving "deliberately." I think they have really botched this whole thing. It's still possible for them to pull it off, but it is not likely. They have had over six years and nearly unlimited manpower and have absolutely nothing to show for it. (except, of course, Kabins' plea)
ReplyDelete@ 12:31
ReplyDeleteGood point. Off the top of my head, didn't the USAO do a great job of screwing up another criminal case by failing to disclose thousands of pages of documenets to the defense, which resulted in Mahan dismissing the case? Maybe it's just the status quo ever since the government decided to spend millions of dollars chasing after Barry Bonds - it set the precedent.
LU - you are still on those meds. Will you marry me?
ReplyDelete"Additionally, LV Now is reporting that part of the plea deal forbids Kabins from pleading the Fifth if/when he is called to testify against Awand and/or Gage. So there's that."
ReplyDeleteWhat lousy reporting. This is standard routine stuff, not worthy of mention. In just about all plea negotiations in State or Federal Court, once you plead out you have waived your 5th amendment rights. Kabins deal is no different than 1000s of others.
Take Barry Bonds' trainer for example. he took a deal, was subpoened, tried to plead the 5th and they locked him up for contempt of court.
Wasn't Greg Anderson (Bonds' trainer) locked up because he wouldn't testify he Bonds used steroids? I don't think it had to do with pleading the 5th as much as in refusing to answer the question. (Or maybe he just liked to shower with other naked dudes.)
ReplyDeleteAssuming Kabins & others did 5 procedures per day since 2000 there are over 10,000 patients who have been treated. The case is really more about Kabins Medicare fraud since Simone and that as well as all his expert testominies has yet to surface. Lawyers and Insurance companies will surely go after Mark on separate issues, as they should.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Bond's trainer is not the best example but the fact remains, most if not all plea negotiations involve waiving your 5th Amendment rights. The reporters are trying to focus on that in the Kabins deal to give the impression that it is atypical.
ReplyDeleteKabins at Piero's last night?
ReplyDeleteGage at Sedona
ReplyDelete@11:29
ReplyDeleteRefusing to answer after you have waived your right to remain silent (5th Amendment) equals contempt of court and possibly gets you locked up. It does nor matter if he did not specifically say I refuse to answer/testify on 5th Amendment grounds. By pleading, he had previously waived his right to not answer the question.