Aston to plead guilty, resign

Bill Gang

Monday, Jan. 5, 1998 | 10:07 a.m.

Clark County Treasurer Mark Aston today agreed to plead guilty to a charge that he stole funds he raised for a professional organization to which he belongs.

As part of the deal explained in Justice of the Peace Doug Smith's courtroom, Aston will resign from the job he has held for more than 11 years and repay $22,000.

The resignation, according to Deputy District Attorney Valerie Adair, will come before he enters a guilty plea on the single theft charge on Jan. 20 in District Judge Joseph Bonaventure's courtroom.

Aston's deflated spirit was evident today as he agreed to waive his preliminary hearing in favor of the agreement that will end his political career and dig deep into his personal pocket.

There is no guarantee in the plea bargain that he will avoid prison time on the felony charge. That will be up to Bonaventure when the case is transferred to his court for the formal plea and sentencing.

Probation is likely because the district attorney's office has agreed as part of the plea bargain to stand silent at the time of sentencing while defense attorney Lamond Mills will be free to argue for Aston's freedom.

The case had been set to be presented to a Clark County grand jury next week, but that will be unnecessary because of the plea bargain, which was delayed until after the holidays by agreement of the attorneys.

The district attorney's office had decided to prosecute Aston after receiving a report from the Metro Police Fraud Unit detailing the results of its investigation into the alleged misuses of funds.

The $22,000 at issue is part of $35,000 Aston raised from investment broker contracts for the annual conference of the County Fiscal Officers Association, held last May in Mesquite.

Aston had been under scrutiny for more than a year, since an internal county audit uncovered spending irregularities that included using interest from a tax receiver account for a $75 personal membership in a large-volume discount store, for office furniture worth $5,000 and computer software worth $932.

Aston also was criticized for accepting $42,000 in computer equipment from brokers he invests the county's money with, and waiving $2 million in delinquent penalties.

The Nevada Ethics Commission had reprimanded Aston for entering into an investor services contract with former employee Chris Bunker and adviser services with Zev Kaplan shortly after they left the county.

A district attorney's memo to County Manager Dale Askew said Aston acted without proper authorization, but did nothing illegal, when he continued contracting with Bunker for investment services.

An internal audit this fall showed that Aston had followed the county's investment policy and that his investment strategy actually was on the conservative side.

Those secondary issues were not part of the plea bargain.

Askew, who knew of the pending plea bargain but was sworn to secrecy by the district attorney's office until after today's court hearing, said that the County Commission will have to appoint somebody to replace Aston, when Aston's resignation becomes effective next month.

Askew said that he could have a recommendation as early as the commission's Jan. 20 meeting or the Feb. 3 meeting. He said the commissioners haven't thought about a replacement because they did not know of the plea bargain.

A natural candidate would be Assistant Treasurer Jeff Adams, who is the only person so far to express an interest in the job to Askew. No one else has come forward but Askew said there are others who would qualify.

SUN REPORTER Jeff Schweers contributed to this story.