Former employee suing U.S. attorney hit with fed indictment

Jace Radke

Thursday, March 6, 2003 | 9:28 a.m.

A former employee of the U.S. attorney's office in Nevada who has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Justice Department was indicted Wednesday on charges of wire fraud and making false statements.

A federal grand jury charged Robert Leon Torres with making false statements about his previous employment in a resume and in a federal background investigation while applying for a position as the office's administrative officer.

Torres, who was hired in January 2000, is facing two counts of wire fraud, three counts of making false statements and one count of obstruction of proceedings. He could face sentences of five years in prison and $250,000 fines on each of the wire fraud and false statement counts and one year in prison on the obstruction count.

The indictment alleges that Torres did not disclose that he had worked at four mortgage companies from 1993 and 1998, and that he left his last job with GMAC Mortgage under "unfavorable circumstances."

Torres, a Mexican-American, filed a lawsuit in July alleging that former U.S. Attorney Kathryn Landreth and Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Zlotnick discriminated against Torres because of his ancestry.

The suit states that while Torres was working at GMAC he hired an employee who then engaged in fraud and embezzlement. Torres reported the criminal activity and negotiated to leave "voluntarily and under favorable terms," according to the suit.

Torres' attorneys did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment, and a spokeswoman with the U.S. attorney's office had no comment about the indictment.

The U.S. attorney in Idaho filed the indictment and will prosecute the case. The Nevada office has recused itself from the case.

The indictment also alleges that when Torres received a letter from the U.S. attorney's office proposing his termination in November 2000 he wrote a response that included a copy of the letter that had been altered, including deletions of certain words.

On November 27, 2000, Torres allegedly caused his paycheck of $2,628.90 to be electronically transferred from the U.S. Treasury to his checking account, an FBI officials said.

The administrative officer position pays $91,589 a year, and is subject to a one-year probationary period.

Landreth now works with Metro Police's legal affairs department, and Zlotnick remains an assistant U.S. attorney. Zlotnick was Landreth's first assistant when Torres was working at the office in 2000.

Torres' lawsuit alleges that Zlotnick made racially derogatory remarks toward him. One example in the lawsuit states that Torres was responsible for taking U.S. attorney staffers on tours of the George Federal Building, which was then under construction.

The lawsuit alleges that when Torres told Zlotnick he'd have to wear a hard hat in the building, Zlotnick allegedly replied that he could wear a sombrero.