News briefs for Feb. 12, 2003

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

Woman given life without parole

The jury that found a Pennsylvania woman guilty of killing a tourist in her hotel room has decided that the woman will spend the rest of her life in prison.

Jurors handed down the maximum sentence, life in prison without the possibility of parole, during a penalty phase for Paulette Perry, who was convicted in the April 2001 stabbing death of David Sygnarski, also of Pennsylvania.

Perry, 35, was found guilty of first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery.

She will be formally sentenced March 24.

Prosecutors claimed Perry and her boyfriend, Kenneth Grant, 35, lured Sygnarski into the room at the now defunct Maxim hotel with the promise of sex. Grant is expected to go to trial later this year.

Man gets 63 months for ID theft scam

A Las Vegas man found guilty in a series of identity-theft schemes involving unauthorized withdrawals from victims' bank accounts was sentenced to 63 months in prison Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

Myles Stanley Jackson was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks to pay $90,838 in restitution to the victims in the scheme.

In October a jury found Jackson guilty of conspiracy and aiding and abetting with wire, bank and mail fraud. The scheme involved stealing victims' identities and making illegal withdrawals from their Bank of America accounts from May 2001 through April 2002.

Jackson was also ordered to serve five years of probation upon being released from prison.

The state Board of Finance

Tuesday approved issuing $31.7 million in revenue bonds for the purchase and rehabilitation of three apartment complexes in Las Vegas for low- to moderate-income families. It is the largest bond issue handled by the state Housing Division for purchasing and overhauling existing structures. The purchase includes the Apple, Mulberry and Pinewood apartments located north of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.