Former plastic surgeon placed on probation

Kim Smith

Thursday, March 23, 2000 | 11:19 a.m.

A former Beverly Hills, Calif., plastic surgeon was placed on probation Wednesday for trying to hire a hitman to kill his wife last year.

Defense attorney David Chesnoff said his client, Ian Steven Brown, was under the influence and suffering from some mental problems when he asked a man at the Rio hotel-casino to kill his wife.

The man instead went to police, who wired him and sent him back to talk to Brown again.

Brown pleaded guilty in January to two counts of solicitation to commit murder. The plea agreement called for him to pay a $20,000 fine and to be placed on unsupervised probation for one year.

Brown was formally sentenced by District Judge Sally Loehrer Wednesday.

Should Brown get into trouble within the next year, Chesnoff said, the solicitation charges would be reinstituted.

Brown, who is in his 50s, has given up his medical license and is living in Mexico.

Chesnoff said he doesn't know if his client and the intended victim have reconciled.

Kim Smith covers courts for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2321 or by e-mail at kimberly@lasvegassun.com.