Prosecutors requested only probation for Kagel due to his age and poor health. Las Vegas federal court judge Gloria Navarro made the ruling on October 8, citing “conspiracy to commit commodity fraud,” a crime Kagel pleaded guilty to in May.

Kagel is under care at a nursing home in Las Vegas due to health problems and will remain there for the duration. If he leaves here, he’ll have to wear a surveillance device.

Prosecutors indicted Kagel in 2022. According to the allegations, Kagel and two accomplices convinced multiple victims to invest in a fake crypto bot trading scheme from December 2017 to June 2022.

With the plan promising high returns and zero risk, at least 15 million dollars were collected from the victims. During this time, the trio used “these cryptocurrency trading programs that they falsely promoted and collected from aggrieved investors.”

Kagel wrote letters to victims using his law firm’s official letterhead to promote the fraud. Prosecutors stated that these letterheads reassured the victims and made them believe that the plan was legal.

Thanks to these letters, the victims thought that they would invest in crypto trading and earn high profits in a short time. The plan promised that the principal would be guaranteed and the investments would return between 20% and 100% within 30 days.

In January 2018, Kagel claimed to own 1,000 Bitcoins, worth $11 million. He said that he kept these Bitcoins in escrow to guarantee investments.

He also tried to establish trust with the victims by stating that he had made cryptocurrency investments before. However, these claims were completely fake and there were no real guarantees to secure the victims’ investments.

In 2023, the California Supreme Court revoked Kagel’s law license for failure to respond to disciplinary charges. The court stated that Kagel embezzled $25,000 of his clients’ money.

It is known that Kagel had disciplinary problems before in his legal career. His law license was suspended twice, in 1997 and 2012. This past damaged his reputation in the legal profession, and with recent events, it has been completely terminated.

Kagel’s two accomplices, David Saffron and Vincent Mazzotta, denied the accusations and claimed their innocence. The two are awaiting trial in Los Angeles federal court in April. This case will more clearly reveal the culpability of Kagel’s accomplices and their role in this fraud scheme.

Prosecutors said Kagel’s age and health were reasons not to seek a harsh prison sentence for him. But Kagel had to take responsibility for the harm he caused to the victims, regardless of his health condition.

Kagel, who will serve his probation sentence in a nursing home due to health problems, will be monitored in case of any health developments and will be kept under stricter surveillance when necessary.