LV man pleads guilty in FBI case

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001 | 9:44 a.m.

A Las Vegas man has pleaded guilty to possessing stolen FBI records in the first local case related to the bureau's secrets-for-sale scandal.

William Reed faces a maximum 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine as a result of the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden announced on Tuesday.

His plea agreement with the government remains under seal.

But Bogden said in a news release that the FBI records Reed obtained gave information about his involvement in a large illegal gambling operation. Reed also pleaded guilty to his role in the gambling operation.

"The defendant knew the records had been unlawfully removed from the FBI, and he took them with the intent of converting them for his own use," Bogden said. "The defendant was aware that up to $15,000 was paid for the records."

Bogden did not say how Reed wound up with the records.

But sources close to the case said the documents were obtained indirectly from Las Vegas private investigator Mike Levin through a defense lawyer.

Levin, a former FBI agent, is at the heart of the secrets-for-sale scandal, which so far has resulted in the arrests of 10 people, including Levin in New York.

Since the probe began in June, Levin, who has cooperated with federal authorities, and several others have pleaded guilty in New York to various charges relating to the theft of FBI documents in Las Vegas.

Among those entering guilty pleas are James J. Hill, a former FBI security analyst in Las Vegas, Maria Emeterio, a former investigator with the Nevada attorney general's office, and Mary Ellen Weeks, a suspended warrant officer at Las Vegas Municipal Court.

All three sold FBI records to Levin, who in turn sold them to lawyers and targets of criminal investigations, federal authorities said.

Last week the Sun reported that the Nevada Division of Investigations, in conjunction with the FBI, was probing allegations that several Las Vegas lawyers may have unlawfully received stolen FBI records.

Reed, meanwhile, pleaded guilty last week with Arthur Bodendorfer, a longtime Las Vegas sports bettor, to running a multimillion-dollar illegal gambling operation in Las Vegas from March 1998 through May 2000.

Bogden said the gambling operation used information it received from various bettors and developed a "middling" strategy of placing wagers on both sides of a sporting event.

Runners were assigned to place bets at sports books along the Strip and downtown, Bogden said. The operation maintained large sums of cash in safe deposit boxes at several casinos.

Bodendorfer, known on the street as "Artie the Middler," agreed to forfeit $1.1 million seized during the investigation, Bogden said. Reid is giving up $300,000.

Sentencing for both Bodendorfer and Reed was set for February. Each faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for their roles in the gambling operation.