TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — Lighthouse Point attorney Alexander N. Kapetan Jr. has been voluntarily disbarred following an April 25 Florida Supreme Court order over his plea patient brokering charges, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"Kapetan filed a petition for disciplinary revocation, which was granted, after he entered a plea to three felony charges and was sentenced to five years' probation," the state bar said in its April 30 announcement of the discipline and the court's order.
In its two-page order, the state high court granted Kapetan's uncontested petition for disciplinary revocation, tantamount to disbarment, with leave to seek readmission after five years. Kapetan agreed to cease law practice within 30 days of executing his petition, which meant his disbarment was effective immediately, according to the court's order.
Kapetan also was ordered to pay $1,250 in costs.
Florida court orders are not final until time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion does not alter the effective date of Kapetan's disbarment.
Attorneys disbarred in Florida generally cannot reapply for admission for five years and must pass an extensive process that includes a rigorous background check and retaking the bar exam.
Kapetan was admitted to the bar in Florida on Sept. 27, 1999, according to his profile at the state bar website. Kapetan had no prior history of discipline, according to his state bar profile and his petition for disciplinary revocation.
Kapetan was one of six personal injury attorneys arrested in September 2017 over an alleged insurance fraud and patient brokering scheme between May 2015 and December 2016, according to a Broward County Sheriff's Department report and a Florida Attorney General's Office news release that is no longer available. The scheme brought in about $521,000 in kickbacks and those arrested were charged with organized fraud, criminal solicitation and patient brokering, according to the sheriff's department report.
Also arrested were Jason Steven Dalley of Boca Raton, Vincent Joseph Pravato of Fort Lauderdale, Steven Slootsky of Boca Raton, Mark Spatz of Davie and Adam Hurtig of Fort Lauderdale.
In January, Kapetan pleaded no contest to single counts of patient brokering, conspiracy to commit patient brokering and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, according to his petition. In exchange, Kapetan received a withhold of adjudication and five years' probation.