Procedural error kills pyramid scheme case

Friday, March 27, 1998 | 10:18 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Tammie Jo Mann says criminal charges against her and three other Las Vegas women have been dismissed in District Court because state Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa didn't follow the rules.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure Thursday upheld a Justice Court ruling that Del Papa's office had not provided the defense with pre-trial discovery in a highly publicized case in which the four women were charged with promoting a pyramid scheme.

"Everybody, even Frankie Sue Del Papa, has to follow the law," Mann, 38, said after the court hearing.

Mann said the attorney general's office felt it could pick and choose what documents it released to the defendants.

Deputy Attorney General Jo Ann Gibbs said she does not know whether Bonaventure's decision will be appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Del Papa, who disagreed with Bonaventure's decision, said she was disappointed that the lawsuit was dismissed on a technical dispute.

Del Papa said this case resulted in 15 civil lawsuits filed by her office against 57 defendants which are still pending. She said the scheme's main promoter Shawn Thorn pleaded guilty last November and was fined.

Others arrested with Mann in 1996 were Lois Dobiesz, 38; Kelly Marshall, 54; and Judith Carpenter, 54. They were charged with nine felony counts including securities fraud, theft and sale of unregistered securities.

The nine felony counts were reduced to a single misdemeanor charge and then that was tossed out of court.

Gibbs, who inherited the case from another deputy, said there was a dispute over which pre-trial evidence had to be supplied to attorneys for the four women.

The women had been free without bail since the charges were filed.

Del Papa maintained the four were co-sponsors of pyramid scheme called Co-Opportunities International.