Nye County assessor denies evidence tampering allegation

PAHRUMP — Nye County’s embattled tax assessor on Monday denied allegations of evidence tampering in an ongoing grand jury probe in Las Vegas.

Shirley Matson held a press conference to clear up questions that arose after the FBI confiscated two computers from her office last week.

Matson said she was the victim of a campaign of harassment being coordinated by the Nye County district attorney and county workers in her own office. She called the allegations “malicious harassment, false accusations and retaliatory.”

Federal agents were called in after employees in the assessor’s office saw Matson take a package addressed to the FBI from the county’s outgoing mail receptacle, sources told the Pahrump Valley Times. County officials say she held onto the material – digital copies of personnel records for a fired sheriff’s deputy under federal investigation – for as long as three hours before taking it to the post office herself.

Asked if she expects to be charged with a crime or whether she’s consulted an attorney, the elected official refused to comment.