Las Vegas defense attorney pleads guilty in short-sale scheme
Veteran defense lawyer Luis J. Rojas pleaded guilty Monday in what authorities say was a short-sale scheme to erase more than $800,000 in mortgage debt from his Henderson home.
Rojas, 38, who is free on his own recognizance, pleaded guilty to making a false statement within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
He is to be sentenced June 1 before U.S. District Judge James Mahan.
The criminal case was handled by the San Diego U.S. attorney’s office because the Nevada U.S. attorney’s office had a conflict of interest. The Nevada office would not explain the conflict.
According to his plea agreement, Rojas bought the Henderson home in 2006 with two mortgages totalling $935,430, and in February 2011 sought approval for a short sale.
Rojas failed to disclose that his brother-in-law, Sidney Jacobs, was a straw buyer for the home and that Rojas provided him with the money for the “sham” transaction, the agreement states.
At one point, according to the plea agreement, Rojas withdrew $290,000 from the bank, stuffed the cash in a duffel bag and gave it to Jacobs to complete the short sale.
Rojas never moved out of the home, and one month later Jacobs transferred the title back to him, the agreement states.
Jacobs is tied to the high-profile accidental shooting of a five-year-old boy at his own Henderson home in September 2011. Robert Martin IV was shot while playing at the home by his 11-year-old uncle, who told police he found the gun in a cardboard box labeled “treasure chest” and thought it was a toy.
The gun belonged to Jacobs, and he was charged with child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm.
But two years later, a Henderson judge dismissed the charge, saying it did not “fit the facts.”
The Clark County District Attorney’s Office was disqualified from the case because District Attorney Steve Wolfson had briefly represented Jacobs before he took office.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.
