Court briefs for November 30, 2001

Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 | 9:09 a.m.

Woman to be sentenced in arson

A California woman faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine when she is sentenced Jan. 10 on a charge of second-degree arson.

Betty Jo Hawkins, 48, of Santa Cruz, Calif., entered an Alford plea Thursday to the charge that she started a fire in a room at the Gold Spike hotel in downtown Las Vegas. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges the state has enough evidence for a conviction if the case goes to a jury.

Seventeen people were hospitalized as the result of the fire and the hotel sustained $150,000 in damage.

District Judge John McGroarty is scheduled to sentence Hawkins Jan. 10. She could also receive as little as one year in prison.

The fire broke out at 11:04 a.m. May 31 in Hawkins' room on the third floor of the Gold Spike, 400 E. Ogen Ave. Firefighters confined the blaze to Hawkins' room, but smoke flooded the third floor and some guests panicked, breaking windows in order to escape.

The 17 people who were injured, including two women who jumped onto the roof of the hotel's casino from their fourth-floor rooms, were treated for smoke inhalation and minor injuries.

New trial set for father of boy

A Las Vegas man whose murder-by-child abuse conviction was overturned in December because of an inaccurate jury instruction is scheduled for a new trial Feb. 21.

Thaddeus Daniel Alexander, 31, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in the 1996 shaking death of his 15-month-old son, Andrew Sobalvarro.

Alexander testified at trial he had shaken his son but had not meant to hurt him and the death was accidental. His son died of "shaken baby syndrome" -- a nonaccidental injury to a child due to violent or intense shaking. The baby died days after being admitted to a hospital.

The Nevada Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction last year, stating that District Judge Joseph Bonaventure gave a faulty instruction to the jury, that malice is automatically present in cases of murder by child abuse.

The high court disagreed and said the prosecution must prove a killer acted with malice, and that the jury verdict may have been different if the proper instructions were given.

Pharmacy owner put on probation

District Judge Michael Cherry Thursday placed the operator of a Las Vegas pharmacy convicted of Medicaid fraud on five years' probation and ordered him to pay $135,000 in penalties.

Leroy K. Parodi, 56, operator of Bradlee Pharmacy, will also have to perform 16 hours of community service each month.

Tim Terry, director of the state's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, said the investigation started in January 2000 when a Las Vegas Rite Aid pharmacy reported a shortage of drugs. The investigation found that pharmacist James Bradford Becks improperly billed Medicaid for drugs that were diverted from the Rite Aid pharmacy to the Bradlee Pharmacy.

Bradlee Pharmacy then dispensed the drugs to Medicaid patients. A second set of bills was then submitted to Medicaid for payment.

In August 2000 Beck pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud and was ordered to pay back $15,000. In August Rite Aid entered into a settlement resolving its potential liability due to Beck's actions. The settlement called for a $200,000 payment to the state.

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