Local news briefs for August 17, 2000

Thursday, Aug. 17, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

Boy, 17, charged as an adult

A 17-year-old Las Vegas boy has been charged as an adult in a string of sexual assaults and other crimes, in part because he was convicted of a previous felony in Chicago.

According to Nevada law, Justin D. Porter must be charged as an adult if the sexual assaults included the use of a weapon or threat of violence, if he's older than 16, and if he's been found guilty of a previous juvenile offense that would have been a felony in the adult court system.

Porter meets all three criteria, said Ronald Bloxham, a chief deputy Clark County district attorney.

Porter was arrested Saturday in Chicago and is being held until he can be brought back to Las Vegas to face 12 counts of sexual assault and various other felonies. Porter has waived extradition and should be in town in a couple of weeks, police said.

The teen is accused of attacking at least six women from February to June in their homes. He is accused of kicking in the front doors, robbing and raping the women at knifepoint, police said.

The attacks occurred Feb. 1 in the 2800 block of East Charleston Boulevard, March 7 in the 2900 block of East Charleston, March 25 in the 600 block of East Bonanza Road, April 4 in the 2300 block of Clifford Avenue, May 16 in the 100 block of North 21st Street and June 7 in the 600 block of North 13th Street.

Accountant pleads guilty in fed court

A Las Vegas tax accountant faces a federal prison sentence following his plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court to filing 32 false income tax returns.

Waldo Eugenio Leon pleaded guilty to the 32-count indictment that charged him with falsifying clients' tax returns by entering false deductions for charitable contributions, medical expenses and employee business expenses.

The false tax returns were prepared through Leon's company, Leon's Accounting Firm, between 1994 and 1998. Federal prosecutors allege the false returns caused a tax loss of $109,000.

Leon faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 29.

LV man indicted in woman's death

A 22-year-old Las Vegas man is being held on $1 million bail after an indictment was unsealed Wednesday charging him in an Aug. 1 fatal traffic accident.

John Melesio Sandoval was indicted by a Clark County grand jury on felony leaving the scene, evading police, reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter charges.

According to police, Sandoval took off at a high rate of speed when an officer tried to pull him over for driving erratically. The police pursued him for a short distance, but broke off the chase.

Moments later Sandoval ran a stop sign at 14th Street and Stewart Avenue, broadsiding Mary Leann Thompson's sport utility vehicle, Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said.

Thompson died the next morning, Booker said. A 13-year-old passenger was uninjured.

High court rules against deputies

Deputy constables in Las Vegas are not local government employees who have the right to bargain for their salaries and benefits, the Nevada Supreme Court said Wednesday.

The court referred to a 1941 attorney general's opinion that a deputy is a public officer who is not entitled to the statutory eight-hour work limitations given other local employees.

The court struck down the decision by the state Employees Management Relations Board that the Las Vegas constable's office was a local government employer and that employees had the same rights as other local government workers, such as collective bargaining and workplace protections.

A dispute had been presented to the relations board about the firing of a deputy by Constable Bob Nolen. The relations board had ruled the union of deputies was entitled to recognition and that Nolen's office was a local government employer.