Federal briefs for May 21, 2004

Friday, May 21, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

Money-laundering indictment released

An Oregon lawyer is charged with money laundering in connection with an alleged Nevada prostitution business, according to a federal indictment released Wednesday.

Cheryl Chadwick, 54, of Portland, Ore., is charged with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one count of money laundering in the indictment, and faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine on each count if convicted.

According to the indictment, from May 25, 2001, to Sept. 30, 2002, Chadwick and two other Portland residents, Jonathan Duke Flake, 32, and Mearenet Biadegelegne, 23, conspired to conceal that funds used to pay Flake's personal, business and legal expenses were earned through prostitution in Las Vegas.

A fourth defendant, Breanna Nelson, 20, who lived in Las Vegas and Portland, pleaded guilty on March 31 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Strike force nabs two fugitives

A U.S. marshal-led fugitive strike force this week arrested two men charged with murder in Las Vegas.

Myles Davis, 25, of Chicago was arrested Tuesday after authorities found that he had assumed the identity of a relative and had been living in Las Vegas for two months.

Davis is wanted by Chicago Police in connection with the Feb. 27 murder of a man who was shot to death in a convenience store. Davis was arrested at an apartment near Lake Mead and Hollywood boulevards.

On Wednesday the task force arrested Arron Saunders, 30, who is wanted by authorities in La Plata, Md., in connection with an allegedly drug-related July 14 murder.