Sunday, April 19, 1998 | 2:25 a.m.
U.S. District Judge Lloyd George handed down a one-year sentence Friday to Terry Salem, 51, of Phoenix, who helped swindle money from a dead man's bank accounts in 1993.
Salem began working as an informant in 1994 after federal authorities learned of his involvement in the bank fraud scheme.
Since then, he has testified for the government at three related trials in Las Vegas, including that of former Clark District Judge Gerard Bongiovanni.
Barry Lieberman, Salem's lawyer, said his client's assistance went beyond the requirements of his plea bargain. Salem pleaded guilty in 1996 to one count of bank fraud.
"He has never wavered in his desire to cooperate with the government," Lieberman said.
George rewarded Salem for the cooperation by departing from federal sentencing guidelines, which called for a prison sentence of two to 2 1/2 years.
"You've done a great deal, and you seem to have changed your pattern of ways substantially," George told him.
Last year, Salem testified at the trial of Las Vegas show producer Jeff Kutash, who was accused of paying a $5,000 bribe to Bongiovanni in exchange for a favorable ruling in a civil case. Kutash was acquitted.
In December, Salem testified at Bongiovanni's corruption trial. He claimed he made two bribe payments in 1995 to the judge, who was defeated in 1996 after one term on the bench.
Bongiovanni's trial ended with a hung jury, and prosecutors plan to retry the case on Sept. 28. Salem is expected to testify again at the trial.
Also last year, Salem testified against his three co-defendants in the bank fraud case. Jurors convicted two of the defendants, including one of Bongiovanni's close friends, and acquitted the other.
During that trial, prosecutors revealed Salem worked exclusively for the FBI for 16 months in 1994 and 1995, earning $3,000 a month as an informant.
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