Last defendant in Vegas court fraud pleads guilty but investigation continues
Steven Brox, the last of five defendants charged in a scheme to defraud the court system, pleaded guilty on the day his trial was to start this week.
Brox, the former owner of a courthouse counseling company, pleaded guilty before District Court Judge Jessie Walsh to several felony and gross misdemeanor charges, including forgery and offering a false instrument for filing or record.
His plea agreement was sealed, but court records show he struck a deal to cooperate with prosecutors in the ongoing investigation, which also has targeted Las Vegas-area lawyers.
Chief District Attorney Mike Staudaher and Brox's lawyer, Robert Draskovich, declined comment Wednesday.
The high-profile criminal case dates to December 2011, when Brox, defense lawyer Brian Bloomfield and juvenile probation officer Robert Chiodini were charged in a 52-count indictment. All were accused of providing prostitutes and other Bloomfield clients with phony certificates of completion for court-ordered counseling and community service needed to resolve misdemeanor cases in Las Vegas Justice Court.
Bloomfield's wife, Amber McDearmon, and a former bail bondsman, Thomas Jaskol, later were indicted on allegations they conspired with Bloomfield to destroy evidence.
Bloomfield and the other defendants have pleaded guilty, but the investigation is far from over.
Earlier this year, Las Vegas police set their sights on another lawyer who may have filed phony certificates of completion between 2008 and 2010. Detectives searched the home and office of Vicki Greco and seized documents. Greco, who also represented prostitutes, could not be reached for comment.
Bloomfield, 39, whose law license is suspended, was to be the prosecution's star witness at Brox's trial. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to two felony charges, forgery and offering a false instrument for filing or record; and two gross misdemeanors, conspiring to commit a crime and destruction of evidence. He awaits sentencing.
A disciplinary panel has asked the Nevada Supreme Court to suspend Bloomfield for five years because of his crimes, but the Nevada State Bar wants his law license permanently revoked.
Brox's former company, United States Justice Associates, was widely known at the Regional Justice Center, especially in Justice Court, where its counseling services were offered at the time of sentencing, mainly misdemeanor cases.
Bloomfield admitted playing a leading role in the scheme. He obtained certificates of completion from Brox's company, knowing the clients never fulfilled the counseling obligation. He also had an employee complete online AIDS awareness and other counseling programs for clients through a court-approved educational service.
Prosecutors contend Bloomfield's clients likely never even knew about the scheme. Some certificates were filed in court, and some were given to prosecutors to falsely show the clients had fulfilled sentencing requirements. In some cases judges simply took Bloomfield's word that requirements had been met.
Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ
