FBI Las Vegas office has a new leader after reported firing of predecessor

A new leader is running the FBI’s Las Vegas office, which has undergone multiple management changes since the start of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Christopher Delzotto is now the special agent in charge, a title previously held by Spencer Evans, whose attorney has said he was terminated in August before he was scheduled to report for a new assignment.

FBI Las Vegas spokesperson Sandy Breault said in an email that Delzotto started this month.

Nathaniel Holland was listed as acting special agent in charge on two Justice Department news releases in early September.

In July, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Amir Ehsaei had taken over the top role at the office.

Evans was part of a group of FBI officials told to retire or be fired earlier this year, according to Mark Zaid, his attorney.

After NBC News reported Evans was targeted for departure, an FBI spokesperson said in February that Jeremy Schwartz was the acting special agent in charge in Las Vegas. The same month, Evans appeared at a news conference and said he remained in charge.

Zaid has said there was apparently “a misunderstanding” about Evans’ eligibility to retire. The prior termination was rescinded, he said.

Evans’ lawyer has said his client was fired because he had followed Justice Department COVID-19 protocols. Zaid has also said he suspects the firing was “an excuse to try and deflect from all the Epstein controversy.”

It’s unusual to have multiple acting special agents in charge for one field office in the same year, according to former Nevada U.S. attorney Greg Brower, who has also served as a senior FBI executive.

Delzotto’s name appeared on a Justice Department announcement Monday about a guilty verdict in a murder-for-hire conspiracy case and a Thursday news release about a woman accused of assaulting a flight attendant.

He graduated from the University of Central Florida and worked “in various accounting and audit roles” before joining the FBI as a special agent in 2009, according to a biography on the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners website.

He previously supervised money laundering investigations for the south central region of the U.S., the biography said, and became the assistant special agent in charge of the San Antonio office. More recently, he served as acting deputy assistant director, according to the Justice Department’s website.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.