Ex-judge Steven Jones faces lifetime ban from bench

The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline is taking no chances to ensure that former Family Court judge Steven Jones never runs for judicial office again.

The seven-member panel voted unanimously earlier this month to seek a lifetime ban against Jones because of his federal conviction in a nearly $3 million investment fraud scheme.

This came as Jones, who was sentenced in February to 26 months in prison, has been permanently disbarred and, according to commission Executive Director Paul Deyhle, has lost his civil rights and can’t run for public office without a presidential pardon.

Without his law license, Jones also is prohibited from running for district court, the appeals court and the supreme court in Nevada, Deyhle said on Monday. Jones, however, could run for justice of the peace and municipal judge in some rural Nevada counties.

That was enough to prompt the Judicial Discipline Commission to take its latest action against Jones on April 10.

“The commission still wants to go forward and permanently remove him from the bench,” Deyhle said.

He said the commission is preparing a formal statement of charges against Jones.

What happens next, Deyhle said, is up to Jones, who gave up his longtime seat on the bench last year after he pleaded guilty in the investment scheme.

If Jones chooses to fight the lifetime ban, the commission will have to schedule a public hearing before making a final decision, Deyhle said. If Jones doesn’t contest the ban, the matter will be resolved without a hearing through a formal consent agreement.

The former judge’s lawyer, Sigal Chattah, declined to comment Monday.

“We haven’t seen the complaint yet and can’t comment on something we haven’t seen,” Chattah said.

The commission pursued misconduct charges for years against Jones, who was first elected to the bench in 1992. Last year, the panel spent $183,300 — more than three-fourths of its budget — trying to discipline Jones.

In December 2013, the judicial commission found that Jones had committed misconduct by maintaining a romantic relationship with former prosecutor Lisa Willardson while she appeared in cases before him. The panel later suspended Jones without pay for three months.

Two days after the commission’s decision was made public, Jones found Willardson’s body at her Henderson home, and the coroner later concluded she died of an accidental drug overdose.

Federal prosecutors ripped into Jones in court documents and at his sentencing for betraying the public’s trust in the investment scheme, saying he played an “integral” role in it while on the bench.

Five other defendants, including Jones’ former brother-in-law Thomas Cecrle, pleaded guilty in the scheme. Jones is to surrender to federal prison authorities on May 25.

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