Ex-county analyst sentenced to prison in insurance scheme

A former Clark County human resources analyst was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison Thursday in a scheme to steal $827,445 from an auto insurance company.

Erik Holman, 49, also was ordered to pay back the money to American Family Insurance and serve three years of supervised release after prison.

U.S. District Judge James Mahan gave him until Jan. 23 to surrender to federal prison authorities.

In March a federal jury found Holman guilty of one conspiracy count and 14 wire fraud counts in the insurance scheme, which occurred between October 2005 and April 2009. He worked for Clark County for roughly 12 years until his felony conviction.

Holman was accused of conspiring with his late “life partner,” former Henderson Municipal Judge John Provost, who ran the Wisconsin-based company’s claims litigation office in Las Vegas.

Provost, 48, who served on the Henderson bench from 1996 to 2003, committed suicide by overdosing on the prescription painkiller oxycodone in July 2009, three months after the scheme was exposed. He later was named as an unindicted co-conspirator when Holman was charged after an investigation by the FBI’s public corruption squad.

Holman maintained his innocence to the end, telling Mahan Thursday that he was betrayed by Provost, who had a massive gambling addiction, and knew nothing about the scheme.

“I did not do what I was charged with,” Holman said. “What I am guilty of is trusting my partner of 10 years. I had no reason not to trust him. He handled our finances from day one.”

Holman and his lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Raquel Lazo, sought a sentence of probation, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Damm pushed for prison time.

Damm said he found it odd that Holman still couldn’t admit that he committed wrongdoing despite evidence presented during the trial that showed he was “fully engaged” in the conspiracy.

Holman wasn’t honest about his conduct with his family and friends, many of whom wrote letters of support for him, Damm said.

Mahan told Holman he was a “lucky man” to have so many friends, but the judge explained that he couldn’t ignore the jury verdict and was obligated to sentence Holman to prison.

Damm described the insurance fraud scheme during the trial as “ingenious” and said Holman was a willing participant out of greed.

Provost created phony invoices for private investigative work Holman didn’t do for American Family Insurance. Then, he wrote checks to Holman and deposited them into bank accounts, including one the two men shared, according to the prosecutor.

Holman used money stolen from the insurance company as his “personal slush fund” to take cruises and trips overseas, Damm said.

Lazo, who plans to appeal Holman’s conviction, contended during the trial that Provost acted alone.

She told the jury that Provost made Holman an unwitting pawn in the embezzlement scheme, pouring money into their joint bank account without his knowledge.

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