Sentencing delayed in Rhodes case

Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 | 9:54 a.m.

A sentencing hearing for the former North Las Vegas councilman convicted of insurance fraud was postponed this morning after a judge said he didn't have enough time to read a Parole and Probation Department report.

John Rhodes was to be sentenced on a single felony count of insurance fraud after jurors determined that he filed a false insurance claim in order to collect money for property he never owned.

District Judge Michael Cherry postponed the hearing for two weeks, saying he had not had time to thoroughly read a pre-sentencing report compiled by the Parole and Probation.

He said he had just received the report on Monday. Rhodes appeared at the hearing this morning along with his attorney, Robert Lucherini.

Cherry noted that the department had recommended probation for Rhodes and that the attorney general's office is expected to argue for prison time.

Prosecutors claimed Rhodes lied to insurance investigators and falsified receipts for items he claimed were stolen from his North Las Vegas home in a reported 1998 robbery. The $10,200 claim was never paid.

Rhodes faces one to four years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 14.