Court briefs for October 11, 2000

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2000 | 11:06 a.m.

LV man receives 24-year sentence

A Las Vegas man has been sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for his role in the largest bank robbery in the city's history.

Robert Arthur Bates, 28, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Dec. 21, 1998, robbery of the Bank of America repository on Charleston Boulevard. The crime netted $1.1 million.

Bates pleaded guilty last year to armed bank robbery, carjacking and unlawful use of a firearm.

An accomplice, Timothy Blackburn, 26, died three weeks after the robbery when he shot his wife, two daughters and himself during a standoff with police in Las Vegas.

Loud speakers not protected

A Clark County district judge has ruled that the Fremont Street Experience did not violate a casino owner's right to free speech by preventing him from using loud speakers.

Officials with the Fremont Street Experience had asked District Judge James Mahan to prohibit Herbert Pastor from using loud speakers at his Mermaids and LaBayou casinos.

Fremont Street Experience officials contended that their board members had voted unanimously in June to eliminate all amplified sounds in the mall unless prior approval had been given for special events.

However, Pastor asked Mahan to prevent the Fremont Street Experience from implementing the regulation, saying it was a violation of his First Amendment rights.