Las Vegas police seize cellphones from defendants accused in courthouse scam

Las Vegas police took the unusual step of seizing the cellphones of three defendants Wednesday after they pleaded not guilty to carrying out a scam that provided prostitutes with phony certificates of completion for court-ordered counseling and community service.

The phones were taken from defense lawyer Brian Bloomfield, 36, juvenile probation officer Robert Chiodini, 41, and former counseling service owner Steven Brox, 46.

Search warrants seeking the phones were served on all three men, who are free on bail, outside the courtroom of District Judge Jessie Walsh immediately after they had pleaded not guilty to the charges contained in a 52-count indictment against them.

The defendants face a variety of felony and gross misdemeanor charges, including forgery, conspiracy to commit a crime and offering a false instrument for filing or record. The crimes are alleged to have occurred between February 2008 and May 2010.

An affidavit supporting the search warrants, written by Detective Aaron Stanton of the Criminal Intelligence Section of the Metropolitan Police Department, is under seal. The warrants were signed by District Judge Timothy Williams.

Bloomfield, who represented the prostitutes and other defendants, is the central figure in the scam, according to the indictment and courthouse sources. He is charged in all 52 counts.

Brox's former company, United States Justice Associates, was well-known at the Regional Justice Center, especially at Las Vegas Justice Court, where its counseling services primarily were offered at the time of sentencing in mainly misdemeanor cases.

Chiodini has worked as a juvenile probation officer for Clark County since May 2001.

Bloomfield's lawyer, William Terry, could not be reached for comment.

But Brox's lawyer, Robert Draskovich, criticized the rare courthouse search.

"My concern is that the information relied upon in the search warrant is stale and that this case is becoming a full-blown witch hunt," Draskovich said.

Chiodini's attorney, Paola Armeni, added: "We're all a bit surprised because we can't imagine what cause they have at this juncture to confiscate the phones. But it will be another issue we've got to deal with in court."

Walsh set a March 14 status check in the case to decide on a trial date.

Bloomfield, the indictment and sources allege, carried out three separate schemes:

■ He had an employee complete online AIDS awareness and other counseling programs for clients through a court-approved educational service.

■ He obtained certificates of completion from Brox's company for clients, knowing the clients never fulfilled the counseling obligations.

■ He bought phony certificates for clients from Chiodini that stated the clients had completed court-ordered community service with a nonprofit organization affiliated with boxing gyms Chiodini ran.

Investigators think Bloomfield's clients never even knew about the schemes. In some cases, the certificates were filed in court. Some were presented to the prosecutors to falsely show the clients had fulfilled the sentencing requirements, investigators say. And in other cases, judges simply took Bloomfield's word that the requirements had been met, investigators say.

Justice Court officials have said there is no real vetting process for selecting counseling companies, other than that they have to be certified in their profession.

Generally, only a small group of companies offer the services, and choosing which one to use in each misdemeanor case is up to the discretion of the individual justices of the peace, officials said.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.