Reputed Binion heroin supplier booted from Drug Court

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, March 7, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

The man who said he was the late casino figure Ted Binion's heroin supplier was kicked out of the Drug Court program Thursday because he failed to comply with its requirements.

Peter Sheridan, 47, was ordered to remain in jail pending a March 18 hearing on his drug charges. He faces a one- to four-year sentence.

After he was indicted on drug possession and paraphernalia charges in 2002, Sheridan was ordered into the Drug Court program by District Judge Valorie Vega.

The Drug Court program gives people with drug-related charges a chance to avoid prolonged prison time by undergoing counseling and making weekly court appearances.

In December 2002, after Sheridan pleaded guilty to one count of possession and intent to sell a controlled substance, Vega ordered him to attend counseling sessions and provide urine analysis on a weekly basis. Vega also ordered Sheridan to enroll in Choices, an outpatient drug program.

But Drug Court Judge Jessie Walsh said Thursday that Sheridan had attended the program only twice.

"He may need inpatient treatment," Walsh said. "But he has really shown no commitment to the program at all."

Sheridan testified during the April 2000 trial of convicted killers Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, saying he provided Binion with heroin on a regular basis from 1985 until the time of his death.

Binion, whose family owns the Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas, was found dead at his Palomino Lane home in 1998, the day after Sheridan said he sold him 12 balloons of heroin.

Defense attorneys claimed Binion died of an overdose of heroin and Xanax, a prescription anti-depressant, but prosecutors said he died of suffocation.

District Attorney David Roger said Sheridan wasn't charged in the case because he didn't have drugs in his possession when he spoke to prosecutors.

"Besides, it wasn't Peter Sheridan who was sitting on Ted Binion's chest Sept. 17, 1998, when he was killed," Roger said. "It was Rick Tabish and Sandra Murphy."

Sheridan was indicted on charges unrelated to the Binion case after police allegedly found items consistent with a methamphetamine lab in a home in the 3900 block of Dream Street.