Maximum sentence for repeat sex offender stands

A convicted sex offender has lost his bid to overturn a maximum prison sentence handed down by a judge who ignored a plea deal that the defendant believed would net him probation.

Paul Santiago in May was sentenced to 16- to 40-years in prison for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl while he worked as a nurse at a local hospital in 2004.

Earlier this year, Santiago took a plea deal from prosecutors that included a recommended sentence of probation.

But District Judge Kathleen Delaney ignored the recommendation and slapped the repeat sex offender with the maximum prison term.

Lawyer Robert Draskovich said Santiago should have been given the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea and stand trial if Delaney declined to abide by the recommended sentence.

Chief Judge Jennifer Togliatti on Monday sided with Delaney stating the judge was not required to follow the recommendation because the guilty plea agreement was not conditional. “Here the guilty plea agreement and the plea canvass could not more clearly place (Santiago) on notice that the Court is not bound by the parties recommendation for a particular sentence.”

Also causing Draskovich “grave concern” was Delaney’s relationship with KLAS-TV, Channel 8, reporter Colleen McCarty, who covered Santiago’s May 22 sentencing hearing.

In April, McCarty completed an externship, a short internship worth four credits, under Delaney through Boyd Law School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The decade-old case garnered no media coverage until September, when McCarty picked up the story, Draskovich said. Her externship began in late January.

In her ruling Monday, Togliatti said there was no evidence to support the claim that Delaney was influenced by her relationship with McCarty. The chief judge said it was “pure speculation” on behalf of the defendant.

In her own affidavit filed last month, Delaney said McCarty was not involved with Santiago’s case in any way and did not report on any stories in District Court while working for her.

When asked Monday if he would appeal Togliatti’s ruling, Draskovich said he and his client were “weighing their options.”

Santiago, who is in High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, is awaiting sentencing in a separate criminal case stemming from allegations he inappropriately touched women while working at a blood testing laboratory in 2012.

In April, he pleaded guilty to a charge of open and gross lewdness, a mis­demeanor, in that case.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.