Nye County Corruption
Pahrump, Nevada
Nye county
corruption
Nye County DA receives public reprimand, seeking further review of case
Pahrump Valley Times – September 29, 2021
A panel of the Nevada Supreme Court, in a split decision, has issued a public reprimand of Nye County District Attorney Chris Arabia over the handling of an appeal request from a former Nye County deputy district attorney, whom Arabia fired in September of 2019. This is apparently not the end of the matter, however, as Arabia stated he will be pursuing the case further with the aim of having the entire Nevada Supreme Court, rather than just a panel, review the matter.
The case, No. 82173, went before a three-member panel of the Nevada Supreme Court that included judges Douglas Herndon, Elissa Cadish and Kristina Pickering.
As to Arabia’s assertion that the state bar lacks jurisdiction because the Nevada Commission on Ethics is charged with disciplining elected officials, the advance opinion states, “We disagree because the commission’s (on ethics) jurisdiction over public officers is not exclusive.”
The Nevada Supreme Court hearing panel then found in a 2-1 vote that Arabia had violated two sections of the Rule of Professional Conduct, simultaneously finding unanimously that those violations were negligent, rather than knowing or intentional. In conclusion, the panel recommended by a 2-1 vote to have Arabia publicly reprimanded and ordered to pay the cost of the disciplinary proceedings.
Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo charged with domestic battery for allegedly choking wife
Pahrump Valley Times – July 25, 2022
Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo has been charged with felony domestic battery, according to reports from the Esmeralda County District Attorney’s Office.
It comes following allegations that Blundo choked his wife at their Pahrump home in March after he discovered more than $77,000 in cash and a gun was missing from there.
Blundo will not be taken into custody. Instead, he has been summonsed to appear in Pahrump Justice Court on Aug. 29.
A judge from Lake Tahoe will preside over the hearings. If convicted, Blundo faces one to five years in prison, or possible probation.
Blundo did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Esmeralda District Attorney Robert Glennen has been appointed as a special prosecutor over the case after the Nye County District Attorney’s and the Nevada Attorney’s General offices both declined to investigate the case, citing a conflict of interest.
“If you are the district attorney, you represent the board of county commissioners, so in effect, you would be representing and prosecuting the same persons,” Glennen said. “There is a procedure where if a district attorney has a conflict of interest, they can ask the attorney’s general office to assist. The case had a conflict and [Nye County District Attorney] Chris Arabia very politely assigned one of his people to help me with that conflict.”
In June, Commissioner Blundo lost his Republican primary bid for re-election to challenger Ron Boskovich, amid allegations that Blundo had abused his wife. Recordings of deputy interviews with Blundo’s wife were leaked to the public in which she claimed the commissioner had secretly recorded her naked without her consent. Blundo’s wife told deputies the commissioner had also posted pictures of her to online dating sites to attract sexual partners. In another 911 call, she told dispatchers that her husband had possessed roughly 84 grams of cocaine.
Critics questioned how Blundo was able to avoid arrest following the accusations.
“There were some people who were saying that I was trying to cover it up during the election, but that’s not the case, and that kind just stuck in my craw,” Arabia told the Pahrump Valley Times on Monday.
PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF RON BOSKOVICH