Local news briefs for September 28, 2001

Friday, Sept. 28, 2001 | 9:30 a.m.

Defendant takes plea bargain

One of the 10 people indicted in connection with an Asian prostitution ring has entered a plea agreement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson said Tjui Ha, 47, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

As a result of the plea agreement, Ha could receive as little as three and a half years in prison or as much as 20 years in prison when U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson sentences her Jan. 11, Johnson said.

According to federal prosecutors, those involved in the prostitution ring used false documents to smuggle Asian women into the United States. Once here, the women were forced to repay the smugglers by working in brothels in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York City, Atlanta and Minneapolis.

Authorities believe Ha, a California resident, directed the prostitutes to the different brothels and was compensated for assisting them in paying off their debt.

Police investigate late-night shootings

Metro Police are investigating a double homicide near H Street and Owens Avenue where two men were found fatally shot Wednesday night.

About 11:30 p.m. police responded to calls of shots fired at 205 Jackson Ave. and found a 33-year-old man who had been shot. Paramedics took the man to University Medical Center, but as they arrived at the hospital the man was pronounced dead, police said.

A 23-year-old man was found shot to death inside an apartment at 205 Jackson, police said.

Homicide detectives learned from witnesses at the scene that a silver Chevrolet Lumina with possible California license plates of 4JLY331 was seen leaving the area around the time of the shootings. Police said that there is a possibility that a third suspect may have been shot but fled the seen before police arrived.

Anyone with information about these homicides is asked to call detectives at 229-3521 or Secret Witness 385-5555.

Extended benefits urged for silicosis

All Nevada Test Site workers diagnosed with silicosis, a lung disease caused by exposure to dust, would qualify for benefits under new legislation.

The Senate could consider the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Program, a benefit package for nuclear workers and their families, as part of the defense appropriations bill next week, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.

The current program covers only those workers with advanced stages of silicosis. Reid's legislation would broaden the program so that all Test Site workers who are diagnosed with the disease would qualify for benefits.

All surviving children of affected workers would also qualify for benefits. The original legislation limited survivor benefits to children who were dependents when their parents worked at the Test Site.

Hundreds of workers dug tunnels into the Test Site's mountains, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, for underground nuclear weapons experiments conducted there from 1963 to 1992. When the miners drilled the rock, they were exposed to dust.

Congress enacted the current compensation program last year. The program authorizes a benefit package for workers affected by radiation sickness, silicosis and berylliosis, a metal used in nuclear weapons. Affected workers receive a $150,000 lump sum payment plus medical expenses.

Police mourn one of their own

North Las Vegas Police lost one of their own Saturday when Chaplain Tom Cattell died from cancer.

Cattell joined the department as a chaplain in 1991 and ministered to police officers, citizens and inmates at the local jails, Lt. Art Redcay said.

Cattell, 71, served as chief over five associate chaplains, and was always ready with a kind word, Redcay said.

Services for Cattell will be Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Spring Meadows Presbyterian Church, 1600 E. Oakey Blvd. Cattell was a member of Gideon International, and his family is asking that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Gideon International.

Valley branch in Henderson held up

Henderson Police are looking for a man in connection with a Thursday afternoon bank robbery.

The robbery happened about 3:30 p.m. at the Valley Bank branch at 370 N. Stephanie St., police said.

A man described as white, in his 40s, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 140 pounds with a long black ponytail handed a note demanding money to a teller, police said. The suspect left the bank with an undisclosed amount, police said.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call police at 565-2000 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Family member discovers body

The body of a 38-year-old Las Vegas man, who had been missing in Lake Mead since Tuesday, was found Thursday morning.

Alejandro Ibarra was found about 7 a.m. in the lake near the Las Vegas Bay campground. He was found by a family member who had been part of an overnight vigil with friends and family at the campground, National Park Service spokesman Bert Byers said.

Ibarra was last seen swimming with his two sons Tuesday, Byers said. This was the 15th fatality at the recreation area this year, and the fourth drowning.

Sewer work affects Rancho Drive

Starting Monday and for the next six months, lane restrictions will be in effect on Rancho Drive between Alta Drive and U.S. 95 as new sewer lines are installed along Rancho.

The two left turn on-ramp lanes to travel west on 95 from Rancho will narrow to one lane. There will also be other periodic lane shifts and closures on Rancho as construction continues on the $10 million sewer installation project.

Metro Police

and area firefighters will play a charity soccer game Saturday. The fifth annual event will begin at 6 p.m. at the Peter Johann Memorial Soccer field at UNLV. Admission is $3 per person, with proceeds going to the Children's Miracle Network and the University Medical Center burn unit.