Attorney Alexander Kapetan Ex-attorney Alexander N. Kapetan Jr.

The Florida Supreme Court has granted Alexander N. Kapetan Jr.'s petition for disciplinary revocation, after the Lighthouse Point, Florida, attorney changed his plea to no contest on felony charges.

Kapetan was charged in 2017 after detectives arrested six South Florida personal injury attorneys accused of participating in an insurance fraud scheme that involved kickbacks. He was allegedly part of a fraud that reportedly yielded more than $521,000 from May 2015 to December 2016.

Investigators alleged in interviews and court filings that in most cases, the personal injury lawyers paid accomplices $500 to $1,500 per client to refer “unsuspecting vehicle accident victims” to make insurance claims.

Kapetan had faced seven felony charges, then three. He pleaded not guilty in Broward Circuit Court to patient brokering, conspiracy to commit patient brokering and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. But court records show he changed direction in January, pleading nolo contendere, which allows defendants in criminal cases to accept conviction without admitting guilt. That court sentenced him to five years' probation.

“After depositions and several negotiations, the state agreed to drop seven of the alleged felonies in exchange to a plea of three of the counts,” defense counsel Eric Schwartzreich said in a statement. “Mr. Kapetan was not convicted and did not receive any term of incarceration. Based on what Mr. Kapetan was facing if convicted on only one of the counts, Mr. Kapetan accepted the state's offer, and looks forward to a positive and productive future as a new father and member of our community.”

In February, Kapetan asked the Florida Supreme Court to grant his petition for disciplinary revocation, with leave to apply for readmission under a rule that allows attorneys facing ethics charges to petition the court. Disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment.

Kapetan is one of at least two attorneys to avoid prison time following the insurance sting.

Another attorney, Steven Slootsky, who had practiced personal injury law in Boca Raton, avoided incarceration after pleading guilty to 15 felony charges. Slootsky's sentence included 10 years' probation on one count and five years' probation, to be served concurrently, on 14 other counts. It included no prison time or fees.

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