Unit credited with gun crackdown

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2002 | 11:06 a.m.

Fewer criminals with guns are on Las Vegas streets today than seven months ago, thanks to a national program called Project Safe Neighborhoods, federal and state prosecutors say.

In April the Clark County District Attorney's Office, with the help of a federal grant, created a five-member gun crimes unit dedicated to prosecuting crimes in which a weapon was used.

About the same time the U.S. Attorney's Office in Las Vegas hired three new prosecutors to enhance a violent crime reduction program that began in 1998.

Together the prosecutors, along with local and federal law enforcement officers, have been meeting weekly to decide which criminal defendants should be prosecuted in federal versus state court.

The specialized units, because they have more time to investigate a defendant's background, can now determine in which system a defendant will face the harshest punishment.

For example, there are no federal attempted murder statutes. Conversely, there are no state statutes prohibiting an ex-felon from possessing ammunition.

In addition, defendants who have three past convictions for drug or violent offenses will automatically receive a 15-year prison sentence in the federal system if they are caught with a weapon.

Defendants with lengthy criminal histories will most likely face federal prosecution and prison sentence -- 85 percent of which will have to be served.

"(The program) is working very, very well. In fact, it's exceeding all of our expectations, which is a good thing for our community," U.S. Attorney Dan Bogden said.

So far the federal prosecutors and Clark County prosecutors have divided up the prosecutions evenly.

Between April 1 and Oct. 16 Clark County prosecutors have filed charges in 306 cases and resolved almost half of them. Of the cases resolved, 83 percent resulted in a felony conviction and 74 percent of the defendants went to prison.

The average prison term received was between four and 18 years, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Victoria Villegas, who heads the unit.

"I'm quite happy about the stats," Villegas said. "I'm amazed with the number of years we've been getting."

The U.S. attorney's office has seen a dramatic increase in the number of gun crime indictments since the joint effort began. In 1998 the office indicted 40 people, and between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31 it had charged 123 people in the Las Vegas area.

So far 46 of the 123 have taken plea agreements or been found guilty during jury trials, spokeswoman Natalie Collins said. Three were acquitted by jurors and the rest of the cases are pending.

"I'd have to think that a three-time increase (in people being charged) is substantial anywhere in the nation," Bogden said. "We've tripled our numbers. We're taking the worst of the worst off the the streets -- it's going to have an effect."

"The end result is we're making our streets safer. We're putting a dent in the violent crime in our community."

Tom O'Connell, chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office narcotics and violent crime division, said his prosecutors have had great success not only in obtaining the indictments, but in getting convictions.

"We've had convictions left and right and pleas," O'Connell said. "We've been very, very successful. We're seeing more people coming in and pleading, whereas before they would go to trial."

O'Connell said that contrary to popular belief, prosecuting someone for being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm isn't easy. Rarely do the defendants have the gun in their pocket -- usually it's sitting on a seat next to them or in a car someone else has been in possession of. Sometimes, too, their past convictions are so old jurors are willing to give the defendants a pass.

"These are not ground-ball cases. If they were that easy, they would all plead guilty," O'Connell said.

Villegas and Deputy District Attorney Roger Cram say the word is out on the streets about the collaborative effort.

"They know there's a huge hammer out there if they don't deal," Cram said. "We can tell them that they've been pre-approved for federal prosecution and if they know they are facing a minimum of 15 years in federal prison, they will go ahead and plead guilty in District Court for a 12- to 30-year sentence."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou said that because the unit specializes in certain types of cases, prosecutors have more time to investigate defendants.

Keith Brooks is one example cited by the team. Brooks served two prison sentences in the 1980s and 1990s for robbing banks in Ohio and Illinois.

Earlier this year police were able to tie him to 14 robberies in Las Vegas. In investigating the case, detectives and prosecutors discovered that Brooks almost always used a written robbery note, telling his victims to be "quite" instead of "quiet."

Rather than face a jury, which may have been informed of his past, Brooks pleaded guilty to six of the 41 charges he faced. He is now serving a 54-year prison term.

Bogden and Villegas said they hope the joint effort will grow more successful as the public and police officers become more educated.

For example, police officers are becoming more knowledgeable about both state and federal laws, the handling of evidence and search and seizure laws, Coumou said.

O'Connell noted that some of the officers who are taking the stand in these cases have never taken the stand before because the cases before were often prosecuted as misdemeanors.

As they take the stand more frequently, they will become better at it, he said.