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Attorney Danny Hastings looks on as former Clark County Recorder Frances Deane enters a guilty plea a part of a plea bargain in District Court Friday, Aug. 14.
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Frances Deane in July 2002.
Sun Archives
- Former county official pleads guilty to 3 felonies (8-14-2009)
- Corruption trial postponed, again (1-28-2009)
- Deane: ‘I’m highly intelligent, not cuckoo’ (9-21-2006)
- Recorder pick rife with repercussions (9-6-2006)
- Recorder thwarted free access to public documents (8-15-2003)
- Union’s complaint meant to oust Deane (10-10-2003)
- Deane’s assistant leaving county recorder’s office (9-19-2003)
The public defender’s office hastily scheduled Friday’s guilty plea in District Court for former Clark County Recorder Frances Deane to try to shield her from the media.
The morning plea, which had been in the works for the past several days, was kept so secret that the prosecutor and the judge who ultimately accepted the plea didn’t find out until less than two hours before it was to take place.
The staff of District Judge Valorie Vega, at the request of the public defender’s office, had asked the clerk’s office in the morning to put the matter on her calendar at 11 a.m. Deane’s change of plea was listed in online court records only a couple of hours in advance.
“We weren’t trying to hide this from anybody,” Public Defender Phil Kohn said late Friday. “We got this scheduled because she was out here, and we wanted to get this done in one day so that she could return to Wisconsin.”
But courthouse sources familiar with the case said the public defender’s office also did not want media attention on Deane to kill the plea agreement. Deane backed out of a similar deal in April 2008 after it was reported in the media.
Deane apparently was in a particularly fragile state of mind coming into court. On her way from Wisconsin Thursday, she hit a deer in Utah and totaled her car. She had to rent a car to make it to Las Vegas.
“This wasn’t an effort to avoid media scrutiny,” one courthouse source said. “This was born out of a desire to facilitate the plea going down. The public defender’s office had big concerns about how she would react to the glare of attention.”
As it was, Deane probably could have walked into the Regional Justice Center past a throng of reporters and gone unnoticed.
She looked nothing like the youthful, vivacious public official she was before she was charged in 2006 in a scheme to profit from her office. She has gained weight and appears much older than when she was last seen in the Las Vegas Valley. She also seemed physically frail as she sat hunched over at the defense table in court, always looking down.
Deane answered several question from Vega with a simple “Yes ma’am,” and when the judge asked her how she was pleading, she responded in a soft voice, “I’m guilty.”
She pleaded guilty to three felony charges that could result in up to 15 years in prison. As part of the plea bargain, however, the district attorney’s office has agreed to stand silent on the question of prison time at her Jan. 14 sentencing.
As Deane left the courtroom with Deputy Public Defender Danny Hastings at her side, she walked stiffly with a cane and wouldn’t even look at a reporter asking for a comment.
During the proceeding, it was obvious that Hastings was not happy about the presence of a Sun reporter and a photographer, the only media representatives in the courtroom. He asked Vega to prohibit the photographer from taking pictures, but Vega denied his request.
After Deane entered her plea, Hastings made a point of telling the judge that Deane “doesn’t want to talk to the media today.”
Sun columnist Jon Ralston reported in his RalstonFlash e-mail, however, that “she called me shortly before she appeared in court, sounding quite distraught and saying she had hit a deer in Utah. Her eyes were blackened, she said.”
“I was going to wear a cute outfit into court and now I have to wear jeans,” she lamented to Ralston.
District Attorney David Roger acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding Deane’s plea were not normal.
“The public defender advised they would approach the court about a special setting, and we told them that was between them and the court,” Roger said. “This was an unusual court hearing inasmuch as every other defendant in the system appears at a normal court calendar.”
Deane pleaded guilty to felony charges of theft, misconduct of a public officer and unlawful commissions, personal profit and compensation of public officers. Fifteen other counts contained in the original charges will be dismissed.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Scott Mitchell, who prosecuted Deane, said he was pleased with the deal.
“Not only did she have to quit her job but she will never be able to run again for public office,” Mitchell said. “She also will be a convicted felon. She’s carrying a pretty heavy burden.”
The plea deal also requires Deane to make full restitution to the county.
Deane allegedly pocketed thousands of dollars from the sale of county documents under her control. One businessman famously testified that, in buying documents from Deane, he had $16,000 in cash delivered to her hidden in stuffed animals.
Deane, who was elected recorder in November 2002, was removed her from office by a judge for malfeasance at Roger’s request.
Her trial was delayed five times.
damn she look old now r u sure this is the right picture
Google Frances Deane pictures and see what happened. I cannot believe it either
No kidding! Are they sure that isn't her mother taking her place for her?
I hope she gets nailed. The be-atch has it coming. Political favors suggest she will get a slap on the wrist and given probation. Scum takes care of scum in Las Vegas.
The real Fran Deane has obviously paid a down and out impostor to take the rap for her, which would explain why she wasn't about to take any questions. DNA testing is definitely called for. My guess is the deer looks a lot more like the real Fran Deane than the woman in these pictures.
As punishment she should have to be confined to one year at the Palace Station followed by a second year and the Imperial Palace and finally serve out the remainder of her sentence at Circus Circus.....have you seen these places? To bad it might fall under "cruel and unusual punishment".
Oh my goodness. It is very bizarre how much she's aged in such a short time.
Does anyone know how old she is?
This is really freaky and very disturbing to me.
I'm not even sure why!
henderson: some might call it Karma. Or perhaps the person depicted is really airweave in drag. On Thursday evening, I saw Dario Herrera at the Havana Grill. He looked well and very fit.
Seems nobody is catching on to the hypocrisy here -- if this had been the typical accused male half the posters would be screaming for a lynching.
Because this is an obvious failure of an embarrassed local government to police itself, she's allowed to live out of state, sentencing is five months away (gives her time to prepare for prison) and she still has enough of her own money for a rental car. Ordinarily all the accused's assets would have been seized and she would not have been allowed out of the state. And she would have been appearing shackled, in jail garb.
mikegino,
Whatever it is, it really creeps me out! I've never seen anyone age that quickly that wasn't on drugs!
henderson: or cancer...
I don't think the issue is her aging.
To me it looks like the stress of the situation caused her to eat and or balloon up physically, thereby looking filled out, plump like.
Probably she may also be on antidepressants which may have blown her up.
I hope she finds a way to live out her life with some peace.
The thing I don't get is how greed can so easily overshadow common sense.
How did she possibly think she would get away with selling that data?
Could she really be that naive or blind to the reality of her acts?
Not a bad deal. If you are Ken from Enron or Frances from Clark County you get to be out of state while waiting for sentence or appeal. If you are anyone not "important" you wait in jail. I guess if you are going to "do the crime" you need to do a big white collar one.
WOAH. Seriously this look like it a TOTALLY DIFFERENT PERSON. I get that she died her hair, but she looks shorter & has clearly gained weight. Her face too looks like it had sagged!
& wait, is she living in Nevada or Utah Or Wisconsin? Y s she allowed to leave the state?
& she as no $ for her own lawyer but she has $ for a rental car? WTF ?
@henderson : She was 40 in 04 so now 5yrs later she is 45.
Is she sick? Bc she really has aged very fast. The cane? The weigt.
Or is she wearing paddding/fattin suit & using the cane just 4 sympathy?
The smell of corruption lingers in the air in this case.
Considering the participants in this case it should have been moved to a different jurisdiction...
It took three years...and was never brought to trial...
"A total of 15 other counts contained in the original charges will be dismissed."
"District Attorney David Roger acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding Deane's plea were not normal."
Very convenient that all the facts of this case will be sealed in the plea agreement..never to see the light of day!
"But courthouse sources familiar with the case said the public defender's office also did not want media attention on Deane to kill the plea agreement. Deane backed out of a similar deal in April 2008 after it was reported in the media."
Why is the District Attorney so interesting in protecting THIS plea agreement???
"We weren't trying to hide this from anybody," Public Defender Phil Kohn said late Friday. "We got this scheduled because she was out here, and we wanted to get this done in one day so that she could return to Wisconsin."
If this had been a different case 'The Court' would have said...Show up or go to jail...
Chief Deputy District Attorney Scott Mitchell, who prosecuted Deane, said he was pleased with the deal.
"Not only did she have to quit her job but she will never be able to run again for public office," Mitchell said. "She also will be a convicted felon. She's carrying a pretty heavy burden."
I wonder if the District Attorney's Office is always this compassionate and accommodating in all Public Official Corruption cases?
the picture with the attorney is enough to make a jobless person throw her a dime.
I can't believe she's still not in jail. Some articles say that she was ill that's why case was delayed but - she was always mentally ill.