Disbarred lawyer arrested in Arizona
A disbarred lawyer who skipped town on the eve of his theft and forgery trial has been arrested in Phoenix on an unlawful flight warrant.
The Clark County district attorney's office is seeking to extradite Charles Radosevich to Las Vegas to face charges of forging court documents and stealing more than $200,000 from people who hired him for legal services.
U.S. Customs agents at an airport in Phoenix arrested Radosevich, 62, on Friday after he got off a flight from Mexico, authorities said.
District Judge David Barker had issued the arrest warrant when Radosevich failed to show up for a hearing a few days before his Sept. 13 trial.
"I'm pleased that he's in custody," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Mike Staudaher. "We're going to proceed against him."
Prosecutors alleged in September that Radosevich, who is disbarred in Colorado and Nebraska, was forging documents and stealing money from unsuspecting clients -- even after being charged with forgery months earlier.
The scheme is alleged to involve preparing authentic-looking phony court documents that can include forged signatures of judges and time stamps. Sometimes, Radosevich, who isn't licensed to practice in Nevada, would assume the professional identification number of a licensed lawyer on the documents.
In 2000 the Nevada State Bar got him to sign a court-approved agreement promising, among other things, not to provide legal services in divorce, personal injury, immigration and bankruptcy cases.
At the request of the bar, prosecutors first filed criminal charges against Radosevich in October 2009, and added new charges in April after learning about more victims. The charges involve about a dozen victims.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
