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Feb. 22, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal


JANE ANN MORRISON: Convicted spy, ex-county commissioner have something in common

At the end of "Breach," the intriguing new movie about FBI-agent-turned-traitor Robert Hanssen, the audience is told he's serving a life sentence in solitary confinement at a federal institution in Florence, Colo.

That seemed eerily familiar.

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Thanks to the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator, I confirmed my suspicion. Hanssen, 62, who is considered the worst spy in America's history because of all the secrets he sold and the damage he did, is in the same facility as our boy, former Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera.

Herrera, 33, who was sentenced to 50 months after being nabbed in the FBI's political corruption investigation, Operation Cat Call, is in the minimum security satellite prison camp at the Florence Federal Corrections Complex.

Hanssen, played as a brilliant pervert by actor Chris Cooper, is in the area for offenders requiring the tightest controls.

With the restrictions placed on Hanssen, it's unlikely the two will ever meet to compare notes about betrayal of the public trust. But how interesting that they're sent to the same place for their punishment.

Former Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, 68, is at a minimum security prison camp for women in Victorville, Calif, with a projected release date of March 15, 2009.

Have a friend or family member in a federal prison? The Bureau of Prison's Web site for locating inmates is among the best: www.bop.gov/

Nevada's Division of Public Safety has a similar service on its Web site at http://dps.nv.gov/.

Just another helpful consumer tip for Review-Journal readers who might be interested in seeing if criminals they hope are behind bars are still there.

CASE DISMISSED: No court ruling will ever be made as to whether former Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald really lived outside her district when she filed for office. The case was dismissed on Valentine's Day as moot by District Court Judge Jim Brennan.

The judge dismissed it without finding she either was or was not a resident of her district when she filed.

Candidates file their candidacy under penalty of perjury. The Las Vegas Police Protective Association and Culinary union Local 226 sued her two months before Election Day and said she should be removed from the ballot because she lied when she said she lived in District F.

The unions hired a private investigator, who surveilled her to see whether she was living in the small house inside her district or in a far more luxurious home with a pool outside her district. Videos of her in her slippers and robe outside the larger rental seemed to indicate she was living there and contributed to her election loss to Susan Brager.

Oddly, after the unions moved to dismiss the case, she argued that she wanted to see the evidence they had gathered against her, including surveillance.

Brennan didn't grant that request, and the case is now ended.

However, another issue isn't moot. The Nevada Department of Public Safety's investigations division is still looking into whether she misused campaign contributions.

A case could go to Secretary of State Ross Miller for a civil penalty or to Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto if the violations are considered criminal. Or the investigation could find nothing. However, the word is that investigators are looking at more than just the payments she made to her nanny using campaign funds.

JOB OPENING: U.S. Attorney Dan Bogden's last day is Feb. 28, less than a week away. So what impact does his looming departure have on pending cases, such as the probe into whether doctors and lawyers colluded to build up medical malpractice cases?

Does it speed up or slow down the investigation? Place your bets -- red or black? But there is grand jury activity on the case.

In San Diego, during her final week, U.S. Attorney Carol Lam indicted two more people in a corruption case stemming from the bribery case against former Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham.

On Lam's final day, an interim U.S. attorney was named.

In Nevada, names of people possibly being considered to replace Bogden include Nevada Chief Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafen, head of the political corruption unit, and three people already with the U.S. attorney's office: Dan Schiess, prosecutor in the Cat Call corruption case; Steve Myhre, Bogden's first assistant; and Kurt Schulke, a prosecutor with the Organized Crime Strike Force.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.


JANE ANN MORRISON
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