Marsh retires as state pretrial chief

Jace Radke

Thursday, July 1, 2004 | 8:12 a.m.

From mobsters to Hells Angels and county commissioners -- U.S. Pretrial Services Chief Jim Marsh has supervised them all the past 20 years in Nevada.

Marsh, whose office is responsible for supervising federal defendants and making recommendations to judges on whether defendants should be released pending trial, retired Wednesday. He was the only pretrial chief Nevada has had.

"A lot of things have changed with the process over the years," said Marsh, 57. "Now we're seeing a lot more street crimes like drugs and gun charges and less of the the sophisticated white collar criminals that we used to see."

After being chosen to head Nevada's fledgling pretrial services agency in October 1984, Marsh found himself supervising Anthony Spilotro, who oversaw street rackets in Las Vegas for the Chicago mob until his 1986 slaying.

"I also supervised Herbie Blitzstein, and for the most part the mobsters didn't give us any trouble," Marsh said. "They usually cooperated."

While supervising Spilotro, Marsh got to know Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, then Spilotro's criminal defense attorney. Goodman called Marsh a straight shooter, and proclaimed Wednesday "Jim Marsh Day" in Las Vegas.

"In exchange for the proclamation I'm hoping he'll write a letter to the Bureau of Prisons and ask that any of my former clients still in the can be let out," Goodman joked.

Under Marsh's leadership, the Nevada pretrial services office has grown from Marsh and one other officer in 1984 to a staff of 15 people today. The office has also been on the forefront of using new technologies, such as electronic monitoring and global positioning systems, to give judges supervision options other than jail for federal defendants.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro, chief judge for Nevada, said the interviewing of defendants that pretrial service officers do is an asset to judges.

"It really gives you the facts that you can rely on when making bail decisions," Pro said. "Jim has served the public well in his position and has really put together an office that, frankly, is a model for the other pretrial offices in the country."

Marsh said his goal was to fill a void in the legal system.

"Without pretrial services we lacked an avenue to gather the information that judges need to make informed bail decisions," Marsh said.

Marsh plans to continue to work as a certified mediator for the Clark County Neighborhood Justice Center and to travel to Arizona to watch his son play football at Eastern Arizona Community College.

Marsh will be replaced by Sheila Adkins beginning on July 12. Adkins, who has worked in the administrative offices of U.S. probation and pretrial services in Washington D.C., will become Nevada's second pretrial services chief.