News briefs for April 21, 2005

Thursday, April 21, 2005 | 9:43 a.m.

Man charged in prostituting minor

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a man for allegedly bringing a minor to Las Vegas from Phoenix for prostitution and for using the money the minor earned to finance two homes in Las Vegas.

The federal grand jury indicted Louis Kenneth Wright on several counts, including the sex trafficking of children, transporting a minor for prostitution and money laundering.

According to the indictment, Wright brought a minor from Arizona to Las Vegas between March 2002 and November 2003 and acted as the minor's pimp.

Wright then purchased two residences in Las Vegas -- one in the 9900 block of Grey Sea Eagle Street and the other on the 10000 block of Garamound Avenue -- as a way to launder any profit he made from prostituting the minor, the indictment alleges.

No details about the age or gender of the minor were given in the indictment.

Indictment charges credit card ring

A ring of credit card counterfeiters from California was indicted by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas on Wednesday for allegedly using more than 50 fake or stolen credit cards at various casinos in Las Vegas.

The grand jury indicted King Bun Lee, Lu Wang and Juan Villela-Rubio for possessing 38 stolen credit card account numbers and 22 fake credit cards and for using them at the Excalibur and the California casinos on Aug. 14, 2004.

The group was stopped after they attempted to get a cash advance using the fake credit cards at an ATM at Binion's, according to the indictment. Wang was found to be carrying a notebook containing 38 credit card numbers and $3,496 in cash.

221 new lawyers pass Nevada Bar

The Nevada Supreme Court said Wednesday that 221 people who took the Nevada bar examination in February have passed and they will be admitted to practice law in a ceremony next month.

Chief Justice Nancy Becker said the pass rate was 67 percent, up from the 61 percent in the July examination last year and the 50 percent in February 2004.

The court said 38 of the 59 graduates from the Boyd School of Law in Las Vegas passed the bar examination for a 64 percent success rate, slightly below the overall pass percentage.

Boyd's last pass rate was only 57 percent. Dean Richard Morgan has called the exam, viewed as one of the toughest in the country, the school's "Achille's heal" and has established a bar committee to help students pass the test.

An admission ceremony is set for May 4 at the Supreme Court in Carson City to be followed by a reception.

Of those who passed, 86 live in Las Vegas, 25 are from Henderson, five are from North Las Vegas and one resides in Boulder City.

Appeal sought in Harrah's lawsuit

The wife of a man killed during a gang fight between the Hell's Angels and Mongols motorcycle gangs in Harrah's Laughlin filed an appeal in federal court on Wednesday.

The appeal seeks to overturn a March 18 ruling in a lawsuit that the casino was not responsible in her husband's death.

Yvette Barreras, wife of 43-year-old Anthony Salvador Barreras, filed the appeal on the grounds that the federal court errored when it allowed the casino to present certain evidence at trial. The suit did not detail the evidence.

Her previous suit, which she lost, claimed the casino was aware that the Hell's Angels wanted to fight to Mongols and did not take appropriate security measures to stop the fight.

Anthony Salvador Barreras was killed on April 27, 2002, during a fight between the two gangs inside the casino, police said. Two others were killed and 12 were wounded during the fight.

Pharmacy Board receives award

The state Board of Pharmacy has been named winner of a national award for its efforts in curbing counterfeit drug distribution in Nevada.

Gov. Kenny Guinn said Wednesday the board will receive the Fred T. Mahaffey Award from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy at the annual meeting May 24 in New Orleans.

The governor said the work by the board ensures "that Nevada patients are receiving the highest quality medicines and that they are not inadvertently consuming counterfeit drugs."

The Nevada board was among the first in the nation to begin policies to monitor and control fraudulent pharmaceuticals.