Felony case weighed against Boggs

Tony Cook and Jeff German

Thursday, May 10, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

State investigators said Wednesday that they have asked District Attorney David Roger to prosecute former Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs on charges that she misused political funds and falsified campaign documents.

The FBI also is investigating Boggs on other matters, including a controversial land deal in Arizona, the Sun has learned.

Jerry Hafen, deputy chief of the investigations division of the Nevada Public Safety Department, said investigators believe that Boggs used campaign funds "inappropriately" in her failed reelection campaign last year.

Hafen said his agency submitted a report to the district attorney's office Monday. The report includes a request asking the district attorney to seek an arrest warrant for Boggs on three felony charges - one count of filing a false campaign document and two counts of perjury, Roger said. Each charge carries a potential sentence of one to five years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lalli said his office is reviewing the case this week.

"We're considering whether criminal charges should be pursued," Lalli said. "We want to make a decision quickly but thoughtfully."

Boggs did not return phone calls Wednesday. (Known as Boggs McDonald during her commission tenure, she has returned to her maiden name since separating from her husband. The Sun could not confirm Wednesday whether her divorce is final.)

The state investigation found that Boggs lived outside her district when she filed campaign paperwork indicating otherwise and misused campaign funds, sources close to the probe said.

During Boggs' 2006 race, allegations surfaced that she lived in a home outside her district, rather than the smaller home in her district that she listed when she filed for office in May.

State law requires candidates to live in the district in which they are running for at least 30 days before filing for office.

The allegations first surfaced in a lawsuit filed by the Police Protective Association, the union that represents rank-and-file Metro Police officers, and the Culinary Union, which has had a long-running feud with Boggs, a former Station Casinos board member. The Culinary Union is trying to organize Station Casinos employees.

The two influential unions hired a private detective to investigate Boggs' residency and amassed about six weeks' worth of video showing her picking up the newspaper, hauling garbage cans to the curb in her robe, spending the night and having a nanny care for her children - all at the home outside the district, not the one she named on election filings.

A key figure in the state investigation is Linda Ferris, a campaign associate who the unions alleged lived in the home in Boggs' district.

Investigators have interviewed Ferris, a source close to the case said.

Campaign money was allegedly used to pay for household expenses at the home occupied by Ferris, the source said.

Boggs also has attracted the interest of FBI agents .

Sources close to the state investigation said FBI agents several months ago requested documents related to Boggs' involvement in a questionable 2005 Arizona land deal.

The Sun reported in September that Boggs failed to disclose that a developer she had helped with a county zoning issue sold her nearly 5 acres in White Hills, Ariz. To pay for it, Boggs received a $25,000 credit and a $100,000 interest-only loan from the developer.

FBI spokesman Dave Staretz refused to confirm or deny whether the agency is investigating Boggs.

But the sources said FBI agents also are looking at some of Boggs' votes on the County Commission.

The state investigation began in October, after the Culinary Union and the Police Protective Association asked then-Secretary of State Dean Heller to investigate allegations that Boggs had paid her children's nanny with campaign money.

The nanny, Kelly McLeod, said in a sworn statement that she received several payments from Boggs' campaign committee but never performed any political work for Boggs. She said, however, that she watched Boggs' two children from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. most weekdays.

The unions claimed such a payment violated Nevada campaign finance law, which prohibits candidates from using political contributions for personal use.

Boggs said then that she would reimburse her campaign for the money spent on McLeod's services.

The secretary of state's office referred the unions' complaint to then-Attorney General George Chanos, who in turn passed it to the Nevada Public Safety Department. Heller and Chanos passed on the case because of potential conflicts of interest because they both used the same campaign treasurer as Boggs.