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Disbarred lawyer pleads guilty to forgery, theft in Las Vegas
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Charles Radosevich
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Disbarred lawyer Charles Radosevich of Las Vegas pleaded guilty Wednesday in a criminal case charging him with forging court documents and stealing more than $200,000 from people who hired him for legal services.
Radosevich, 67, who is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on no bail, pleaded guilty to one count of theft and one count of forgery.
District Judge David Barker set an April 13 sentencing.
The charges, which involve the theft of $90,900 from an estate case, draw a maximum of 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine for the theft count and four years in prison and $5,000 fine on the forgery.
Radosevich had been charged with stealing a total of $140,000 from the estate of the mother of Darlene Lonzaga and her brother, Jimmy Montgomery. Radosevich was accused of circulating a phony court document with the forged signature of District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez in an effort to swindle the brother and sister out of the estate money.
Ten other felony charges are being dismissed , according to his agreement .
But Radosevich agreed to pay restitution to all of his victims, including those named in the charges being dismissed.
One of those victims, Southern California real estate agent Michelle Geris, ended up being arrested blocks from her home in August 2009 after Radosevich was accused of having pocketed $53,000 she gave him to pay off a gambling debt to Green Valley Ranch Station.
Radosevich was supposed to give the money to the district attorney's bad-check unit, which planned to turn it over to Green Valley Ranch and then dismiss the criminal debt case against Geris. But when the bad-check unit did not receive the $53,000, it obtained a warrant for her arrest. That case is on hold as a result of Radosevich's criminal troubles, and Geris is suing Radosevich in District Court.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Mike Staudaher said Wednesday he believes Radosevich left about 30 victims in his wake.
As part of his deal with prosecutors, Radosevich agreed to plead guilty to separate misdemeanor charges of obtaining money under false pretenses and unlawfully practicing law. He also agreed to plead guilty to two more felony theft charges and one felony count of obtaining money under false pretenses in a new case Staudaher plans to file this week.
Radosevich fled Las Vegas in September on the eve of his trial, but was captured in Phoenix after he stepped off a flight from Costa Rica and returned to Las Vegas.
Prosecutors have alleged that Radosevich, disbarred in Colorado and Nebraska, was forging documents and stealing money from clients even after being charged in his current case.
At the request of the Nevada State Bar, prosecutors filed criminal charges against Radosevich in October 2009 and added new charges in April after learning of more victims.
The State Bar has kept tabs on Radosevich since 2000, when it got him to sign an agreement promising, among other things, not to provide legal services in divorce, personal injury, immigration and bankruptcy cases.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
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Cant wait for April 13th. from all of his exfriends in Jaco Beach Costa Rica
I hope the JERK likes the color of orange. Ricardo from Jaco, Costa Rica
Looks like he needs a good lawyer. LOL
Why has the prosecutor's office agreed to dismiss 10 of the felony charges Radosevich? Lawyers helping lawyers, as is the usual case. He faces at least 14 years for these crimes, but will probably receive "time served" at sentencing, and be on his merry way seeking out more victims.
Just love it when they catch all those "stinkin dirty rats" ... my favorite. They are going to have to make some more room at the County Detention Center, looks like more of his "type" will be joining the roster of "jail-bird lawyer".... Roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, keep those dirty lawyers rolling, move 'em out, move 'em on .... Rawhide .... (script scene=cowboy riding off into the sunset cracking a cattle whip) ... keep those dirty rats movin' ...
That's the song I'm a singin' here. HawkEye over-and-out.
Dear Judge David Barker: Please throw the book at him.
How did he get all of these clients? Was someone else referring these clients to him? If so, who? Where they getting a kick back? If so, they should be locked up right along side Mr. Radosevich.
Anyways, he's a repeat offender. The man deserves prison plain and simple.
Las Vegas will eventually become a self-sustaining network of malpractice between doctors, lawyers, business executives, and politicians. Not simply corruption, as that is prevalent already, but it will be a perpetual system of fraud on fraud against fraud for the overall betterment of fraud.
What a guy!
I love it. Desai was permitted to send all of his assets out of the country in the 1st few weeks after the story came to light but, NOW he's incompetent. B.S., if he was competent enough to send all his money out of the country, he is competent enough to pay the price. As for this 'lawyer', he's just stupid as I see it. Can't fix stupid.
This guy is in jail with no bail, but Desai is scott free until at least the middle of next month. Juice?