Legal woes deepen for bail enforcement officer in HOA case

A veteran bail enforcement officer charged in the massive scheme to take over homeowners associations is in more trouble with the law.

As a result of Charles McChesney’s May arrest on state charges in a robbery-extortion scheme, prosecutors are moving to keep him behind bars while he awaits a federal trial in the long-running investigation into the HOA takeovers.

Charles La Bella, a deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section, argued Thursday that McChesney, now in federal custody, violated the terms of his pretrial release in the homeowners association case.

“Mr. McChesney presents a real danger to the community and should be detained,” said La Bella, the lead prosecutor in the HOA investigation.

McChesney, 48, was arrested by state investigators on May 13 with another bail bondsman, John Kevin McCabe, 61, in an alleged scheme to rob and extort a female client they claimed owed them money.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, McChesney and McCabe broke down the door of the woman’s home in January 2011 and held her and her three young children at gunpoint while they rummaged through the home.

The two men forced the woman to sign power of attorney and then took personal property, including a laptop computer and her 2006 Monte Carlo, the complaint alleges.

In January, McChesney was indicted by a federal grand jury with Leon Benzer, the accused mastermind of the HOA scheme, and nine other defendants. He faces one conspiracy count and 14 wire fraud counts.

All 11 defendants are to stand trial March 3.

Prosecutors have alleged that 11 homeowners associations were swindled out of millions of dollars between 2003 and 2009.

The key to the scheme was getting straw buyers elected to the HOA boards to help Benzer and his partner, the late construction defects attorney Nancy Quon, land lucrative contracts.

Prosecutors described McChesney in the indictment as a private investigator and straw buyer. He is alleged to have worked as “muscle,” along with former cops, to help Benzer maintain control of HOA boards.

McChesney’s lawyer, James Oronoz, argued Thursday that his state arrest last month involved an incident before the HOA indictment and since January, his client has been a model defendant.

But U.S. Magistrate Judge Bill Hoffman said he had “great concern” about McChesney’s use of weapons before federal charges were brought against him. Hoffman ordered McChesney detained in federal custody until a June 25 hearing in the government’s effort to revoke the terms of his pretrial release.

McChesney faces a slew of state charges stemming from the home invasion, including extortion, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon.

Before McChesney’s arrest last month, he was seeking permission to carry a gun while he worked as a bail enforcer.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen cited the arrest in denying the request.

McChesney and his defense lawyer had argued that McChesney needed the weapon to protect himself in “dangerous situations.”

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