Court briefs for December 11, 2000

Monday, Dec. 11, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

Lizard smuggler gets probation

A Las Vegas man convicted of smuggling a dozen lizards into the United States in his underwear has been sentenced to three years probation.

Don D. Astorga, 31, ws also sentenced to four months' home confinement at a hearing held Friday in U.S. District Court.

Astorga was convicted in September on two counts of smuggling endangered or protected animal species. Astorga was stopped by an officer at McCarran International Airport in June 1999 while returning from a trip to the Philippines. The officer discovered a dozen small lizards in Astorga's underwear, nine of which were dead.

The three other lizards died later.

Mistrial declared in shooting case

District Judge Kathy Hardcastle was forced to declare a mistrial Friday in the case of a man accused of shooting his neighbor to death in November 1999.

Jurors were four hours into deliberating Brent Sheridan's fate when court officials realized they had been given exhibits that had not been admitted as evidence.

Hardcastle is expected to set a new trial date on Wednesday.

Sheridan is accused of shooting Harriet Jennings-Chapin, 42, five times because he was angry his landlord had not evicted her. Sheridan reportedly suspected Jennings-Chapin of being a prostitute or a drug dealer because of a large number of people visiting her apartment.

Public defender to represent Vigoa

District Judge Kathy Hardcastle ruled on Friday that the Clark County public defender's office can continue to represent Jose Vigoa, a suspect in the June 1999 robbery of the Bellagio hotel-casino.

The attorneys for one of Vigoa's co-defendants, Luis Suarez, had asked for the public defender's office to be removed from the case, because it once represented Suarez. They were afraid personal information Suarez gave the office at the time could be used against Suarez by Vigoa at their upcoming trial.

Hardcastle noted there is no connection between Suarez's old drug case and the upcoming robbery trial. She did, however, order the file sealed.

Bank robber gets 7 years in prison

A Las Vegas man who was shot six times by police officers after robbing a bank has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Mark John Simonich was shot Jan. 16 after a car chase that ended on U.S. 95. Simonich was stopped for speeding, but had robbed a Las Vegas bank about six hours earlier.

Officers Robert Johnson and Williams Wilson shot Simonich when he stepped out of his car and pointed a BB gun replica of a semi-automatic handgun at them. Simonich survived, and the officers were found to have followed department guidelines on use-of-force.

On Friday Simonich appeared in U.S. District Court, where he was sentenced to 87 months in prison. Simonich pleaded guilty Sept. 6 to two counts of bank robbery.