HOA manager gets home confinement in takeover scheme

A former homeowners association community manager was sentenced to six months of home confinement on Monday for her role in the scheme to take over and defraud the associations.

Mary Ann Watts, 67, was a controversial player who, after a falling out during the height of the massive scheme, threatened to expose the leading conspirator, former construction company boss Leon Benzer, unless she got $50,000 and a guarantee her family would not be harmed.

She never got the cash. She eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in October 2011 and cooperated with the government against Benzer.

Watts is one of 20 cooperating defendants being sentenced this week in the largest public corruption case federal authorities have brought in Southern Nevada.

A total of 38 defendants pleaded guilty in the investigation, which became public in September 2008 with FBI-led raids across the valley. Four other defendants, including attorney Keith Gregory, were convicted by a federal jury in March.

Watts, who testified at the trial, also was ordered on Monday to serve three years of supervised released; pay a share of $39,350 in restitution to HOAs; and perform 100 hours of community service.

Watts made a tearful apology for her actions, saying she should have bailed out of the scheme sooner but was “too frightened.”

Lead Justice Department prosecutor Charles La Bella hailed her steady cooperation and trial testimony, but still sought as much as a year in prison for her.

In handing down the lighter sentence, U.S. District Judge James Mahan pointed out the significance of the many defendants who assisted the government in the long-running investigation.

“Those who cooperated, frankly, broke this wide open,” Mahan said, adding the long line of conspirators fell like dominoes.

Four other cooperating defendants who pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge were sentenced after Watts Monday.

Angela Esparza, a community management employee and straw buyer, was given credit for four months she spent behind bars while waiting to resolve her case and was placed on four years of supervised release.

U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware also ordered her to do 120 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to the HOAs she harmed during the scheme, which prosecutors alleged occurred between 2003 and 2009.

Benzer, who pleaded guilty and is to be sentenced later this year, targeted HOAs through a network of straw buyers and systematically took control of several boards through fraud and deceit, including the rigging of board elections, prosecutors alleged.

Esparza, who was brought into the scheme by her uncle, Ralph Priola, wept in court as she apologized for her “terrible actions,” saying her “mistakes changed her life forever.” Priola, who was Benzer’s right-hand man, also pleaded guilty and is waiting to be sentenced.

La Bella, who had sought an 18-month prison sentence for Esparza, lauded her extensive cooperation and trial testimony that defined for the jury how HOA elections were rigged.

Another defendant, Robert Bolten, was sentenced by Mahan on Monday to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay a share of $135,932 in restitution.

Mahan said he was obligated to be tougher on Bolten, who played a minor role as a straw buyer, because of his felony record.

Patrick Bergsrud, a Benzer-controlled HOA board member and real state agent who helped find condominiums for straw buyers, was sentenced to six months in prison and six months of home confinement, with three years of supervised release.

Mahan also gave Rosalio Alcantar, who opened secret bank accounts that allowed Benzer to fund the scheme, three years of supervised release and ordered him pay a share of $25,826 in restitution.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ