|
Article Courtesy of The Las Vegas
Review-Journal
By Jeff German
Published
May 25, 2015
Suspended attorney Barry Levinson, who has more
Nevada bar complaints against him than any other lawyer, was ordered
Friday to spend serious time in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge James Mahan sentenced Levinson to 78 months behind
bars for his role in the scheme to take over and defraud homeowners
associations and for stealing client funds and hiding money from the
IRS.
Mahan also ordered Levinson to
serve five years of supervised release after prison and
pay a share of $19 million in restitution in the HOA
case and another $271,000 to former clients and the IRS.
He is to surrender to federal authorities on Aug. 21.
“It’s a sad day for us, as lawyers, Mr Levinson, to see
you here,” Mahan said. “It’s sad to see someone fall so
far. I want to say, ‘What were you thinking?’”
A tearful Levinson apologized to the judge, fellow
members of his profession and the entire community.
“I embarrassed Las Vegas. I let everybody down,” he
said. “I accept responsibility for what happened. It’s
my fault. I made the mistakes. I’m paying for it.”
Defense lawyer Brent Bryson added, “He stands before
this court a broken man. He’s humbled. He’s humiliated.” |
|
Local attorney Barry Levinson, left, speaks with
his attorney Brent Bryson before going into Lloyd George U.S.
Courthouse for sentencing Friday, May 22, 2015, in Las Vegas.
Levinson is charged with HOA fraud and other criminal counts,
including stealing from his clients.
|
Levinson, 48, pleaded guilty in February 2014 to
conspiracy in the HOA scheme, wire fraud in the theft of $243,435 from
his clients and tax evasion in failing to pay the IRS $28,211.
With his consent, the State Bar of Nevada asked the Nevada Supreme Court
at the time to permanently take away his license to practice law. The
court has yet to issue a disbarment order.
State Bar Counsel David Clark, who was in federal court Friday, said
afterward that his organization received 124 grievances against Levinson
over the past several years, more than any Nevada lawyer.
Levinson’s plea was part of an agreement he and Bryson struck with
federal and Clark County prosecutors to resolve all of his criminal
charges. He still faces felony charges in District Court of stealing
more than $1 million from his clients, but any prison time he gets there
will run concurrent to his federal sentence.
In court papers last week, federal prosecutors said Levinson betrayed
the trust of homeowners as general counsel for the Park Avenue HOA
board. His real loyalty was to the scheme’s central figure, former
construction company boss Leon Benzer, who was seeking a lucrative
contract for construction defect work.
Under Benzer’s direction, prosecutors wrote, Levinson tried to bribe
another lawyer overseeing an HOA election there to ensure Benzer’s
candidates were elected.
As general counsel at Pebble Creek, Levinson tried to derail a recall
election of Benzer-controlled board members, according to prosecutors.
A dozen HOA boards across the valley were targeted by Benzer, who
pleaded guilty in January, as the scheme flourished between 2003 and
2009.
Levinson was the last of 19 defendants sentenced this week in the
largest public corruption case federal authorities have brought in
Southern Nevada. More defendants, including Benzer, are waiting to be
sentenced this summer.
|
