Grand jury hears evidence against former courthouse counseling service
Prosecutors began presenting evidence to a county grand jury Tuesday in an investigation into allegations that a former courthouse counseling service provided phony certificates stating prostitutes and other misdemeanor offenders had completed its programs.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Mike Staudaher and Las Vegas police Detective Aaron Stanton, who are conducting the investigation, showed up outside the grand jury room with boxes of documents about 1:25 p.m.
A couple of witnesses were waiting to testify, and more made appearances before the panel later in the afternoon.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Saturday that prosecutors had told Steven Brox, former owner of the counseling service, United States Justice Associates, and criminal defense lawyer Brian Bloomfield that they were targets of the investigation.
Certificates from Brox's company were obtained for prostitutes represented by Bloomfield, and some of the certificates wound up in the public court files of the defendants, courthouse sources said.
Prosecutors are pursuing felony charges of conspiracy, forgery and filing false public documents against Brox and Bloomfield, and hope to obtain indictments by the end of the month.
The two men have until Dec. 20 to testify or present evidence to the grand jury on their behalf.
The case led to the abrupt resignation last month of Chief Deputy District Attorney Roy Nelson, who is friends with Bloomfield.
Nelson is not a target of the investigation, but text messages found on a computer Las Vegas police seized from Bloomfield last year uncovered possible unethical conduct on Nelson's part.
United States Justice Associates was one of several companies that offered programs, primarily in Las Vegas Justice Court, for alcohol and drug abuse, AIDS awareness, anger management and petty larceny to those charged with misdemeanors. Judges often order defendants to attend such programs to steer them out of the justice system.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
