Herrera faces higher power

Tuesday, May 9, 2006 | 7:31 a.m.

Former Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera will face more than jail time and fines when he is sentenced in August for public corruption.

Herrera, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, may also lose his standing in his church.

LDS by-laws call for discipline when a member commits a major transgression.

"There almost certainly will be some action taken," said Ace Robison, church spokesman for the Southern Nevada region and a stake president in Logandale. Herrera's local stake president will decide what action is appropriate, Robison said.

Herrera could be put on probation, face "disfellowship" - be limited in church activities - or be excommunicated all together.

Herrera converted to Mormonism in 2002.

Herrera, through his attorney David Brown, declined comment.

"He doesn't want to talk to anyone about any aspect of the case," Brown said. "The public portion of his life is over."

The goal of church discipline is to bring the person back into the church and help him maintain a strong moral center, Robison said.

"Inherent in that is to protect innocent third parties and the good name of the church, but first and foremost it (church discipline) is to provide a personal ministry to that individual," Robison said.

Mormons take literally the teaching of Jesus Christ that they are "sons and daughters of God," and will become gods themselves if they uphold the teachings of their faith. In reflection of that, church members follow a strict ethical code.

"The church is only as strong as its members," Robison said. "It is essential that we as members of the church lead good lives ... and to help one another live good lives."

Excommunication, in which a member is stripped of his church membership, is usually a drastic, last step that the church uses to discipline its members in hopes of eventually restoring them, Robison said. The practice is common to other churches as well.

Excommunication includes being banned from participating in church services, taking the sacrament, entry to the temple and wearing the church's sacred undergarments, Robison said.

Excommunicated members may still attend services if they exhibit good conduct and can eventually be rebaptized and regain their standing in the church.

Complicating Herrera's case will be that he converted from Roman Catholicism to his wife, Emily's, Mormonism during his failed 2002 run for Congress. The actions for which he was convicted - taking cash bribes and sexual favors in exchange for commission votes that benefited strip club owner Michael Galardi - took place before his conversion.

"That could make a difference," in how Herrera is disciplined, Robison said. What ultimately happens will remain between him and his church leaders.

His stake president will have to consider whether Herrera fully repented of his transgressions or if he left anything out. Herrera had pleaded not guilty of the bribery charges against him, but admitted to accepting free golf games and sexual favors from Galardi's employees.

The stake president will also have to consider Herrera's sincerity. Critics at the time of Herrera's conversion saw the move as a politically expedient way to cater to the LDS vote and a way for Herrera to get back in his wife's good graces after their 2001 split.

Herrera has denied both accusations in the past, but has credited his wife, who comes from a prominent LDS family, for leading him to the church.

During the trial, the Herreras said they have grown in their faith.

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