2 men sentenced as accessories in slaying of Metro Police officer

By Conor Shine

Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 | 2:38 p.m.

Two brothers who pleaded guilty as accessories in the 2009 shooting death of a Metro Police officer were sentenced to a maximum of 30 months in prison in Clark County District Court on Monday.

Michael and Emmitt Ferguson each pleaded guilty to one count of accessory to murder in September and were given sentences of 12 to 30 months in prison by Judge Jessie Walsh.

Both men, however, will receive credit for nearly two years already served.

According to police, the brothers helped conceal the weapon used in the killing of 30-year-old police officer Trevor Nettleton, who was shot during a botched robbery attempt in the garage of his North Las Vegas home on Nov. 19, 2009.

According to an arrest report, Michael Ferguson received a call from the North Las Vegas jail from Saul Williams Jr., one of four men charged with murder in the case, asking Ferguson, “Where are the toys?”

During the call, which was monitored by jail officials, Michael Ferguson told Williams they were in the “B” room, the report said.

Another report documenting the arrest of Emmitt Ferguson indicated that Williams told him over the phone to take the “H,” meaning “heat,” from the “B,” meaning “bathroom,” and put it in the “A,” meaning attic.

Emmitt Ferguson later confirmed during an interview with police that the letters stood for “heat,” “bathroom” and “attic.” He told police he had indicated to Williams that the gun was safe and no one would find it; he told Williams, according to police, that he would trade the gun after the situation “cooled off.”

A search warrant was obtained after police reviewed the calls from the jail. Police found two guns in the attic entrance, located in the bathroom of the residence on Cliffbrook Hedge, according to the report. One gun was a .40-caliber handgun, which police said likely was used in the shooting.

Williams, Prentice Marshall, Quadrae Scott and Adrian Pena are charged with one count each of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. They also face one count each of conspiracy to commit robbery, burglary while in possession of a firearm and attempted robbery, all with criminal gang enhancements.

All six men are believed to be members of the Woods gang, police said.

Williams, Marshall, Scott and Pena are scheduled to go before a jury for trial starting Feb. 6, 2012.