Nevada Supreme Court: Nine of 10 counts against former UMC chief can be pursued

By Cy Ryan

Monday, Sept. 30, 2013 | 11:14 a.m.

The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered that nine criminal charges be reinstated against former University Medical Center chief Lacy Thomas, accused of funneling millions of dollars in contracts to his friends in Chicago.

The court overturned the decision of District Judge Michael Villani, who dismissed all counts in a grand jury indictment on grounds they were “constitutionally vague.” The Nevada Supreme Court ruled that only one count in the 10-count indictment was faulty and cannot be prosecuted.

In its unanimous decision Friday, the court said the nine counts sufficiently put Thomas, who was fired, on notice of the criminal acts with which he is charged.

During earlier trials — Lacy pleaded not guilty in August 2008, and his first trial ended in a mistrial in 2010; Villani dismissed the indictment in 2011 — prosecutors estimated that UMC lost $10 million as a result of contracts that Lacy awarded to people who were unqualified to perform the work.

The indictment says Thomas was charged with entering into contracts for UMC with Frazier Systems Group, TBL Construction, Premier Alliance Management LLC and Crystal Communications LLC.

“These companies allegedly provided consulting and supervisory service in the areas of information technology, utilities, landscaping and telecommunications,” the indictment says, also alleging the work was never performed or was never finished.

Thomas is charged with awarding Greg Boone contracts worth $50,000 and $287,700. He also awarded a $900,000 contract to Boone’s Frazier System’s Group and a contract to Crystal Communications, owned by his close friend Thomas Jones, for $145,000.

Thomas maintained the contracts were approved by the legal staff and at least one county commissioner.

The Nevada Supreme Court said counts of theft and misconduct by a public officer should stand. But it dropped the count that deals with Thomas allegedly giving a contract to Superior Consulting, also known as ACS, under which the company was paid for work already being performed by a county agency. The count was thrown out because it was not properly explained what part of Thomas' actions constituted theft.