Attorney in HOA fraud takes beating in more ways than one

David Amesbury's life continues to grow more complicated.

The Las Vegas attorney pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud and has agreed to cooperate in the ongoing investigation of corruption inside local homeowners associations and the construction defect industry. The case is being investigated by the FBI, IRS and Metro, and is being prosecuted by the Department of Justice's Fraud Section out of Washington.

Amesbury admitted receiving kickbacks and helping key players conspire to fix homeowners association elections. He also admitted having a role in a bank loan fraud involving the Courthouse Cafe, which he co-owned with contractor Leon Benzer and former Metro officer Ben Kim, neither of whom has been charged in the investigation.

Just last week the 57-year-old Amesbury was found beaten inside a gated community in Henderson. An FBI spokesman said the battery was not believed to be related to the ongoing investigation of local homeowners associations.

Amesbury was discovered in a state of undress, informed sources say.

Last month, Amesbury was hit with divorce papers from his wife, District Attorney's office veteran Victoria Villegas. She filed the complaint for divorce Oct. 21, citing incompatibility and irreconcilable differences. She and Amesbury were married Dec. 23, 1991.

The couple has no children.

POPULAR PITCHMAN: Gov. Brian Sandoval is hustling donations and promoting the candidacy of his appointee, U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, via the Internet.

"I wholeheartedly endorse Dean in the race for US Senate," Sandoval enthuses in his solicitation.

I haven't yet seen a Sandoval come-on for Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, whom Sandoval also has enthusiastically endorsed. Perry's Nevada campaign has essentially flat-lined.

DEPOSITION WARS: Litigation pitting former Las Vegas Sands security personnel against company management is getting nastier. Now attorneys for the company want to find out who leaked a video copy of a deposition in the case to 8 News Now's George Knapp for a report that embarrassed billionaire casino man Sheldon Adelson.

The defendants' attorneys are seeking a hearing in an effort to have plaintiff's attorney Donald Campbell held in contempt for violating the court order of the discovery commissioner, who recommended that "videotaped depositions are not to be shown on YouTube, MySpace or any other similar Internet sites."

Wrote attorney Patrick Hicks in the motion filed Nov. 17: "If Plaintiff's counsel provided a copy of Mr. Adelson's videotaped deposition to 8 News Now for the purpose of posting (or with knowledge that it would be posted) on the Internet, such an act would directly violate the Discovery Commissioner's Report and Recommendations adopted by order of this Court."

The deposition videotape indicated that Adelson's claims -- that he feared for his safety during a deposition at Campbell's law office, and that Campbell "lost his temper during the deposition and attempted to throw books at Adelson" -- were laughably unfounded.

The former members of the Adelson family's security team claim they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime pay.

ON THE BOULEVARD: The name of district attorney's office veteran Roy Nelson, who resigned suddenly last week after 11 years on the job, surfaced during the criminal extortion investigation of Steven Brox, informed sources say. Brox is the owner of United States Justice Associates.

BOULEVARD II: Clark County firefighters are again collecting for their annual holiday toy drive. Starting today, new, unwrapped toys can be dropped off at any county fire station. ... Matthew Anderson was a remarkable young man who was deeply involved in community service. You can honor him by participating in the second annual golf tournament to benefit the scholarship fund in his name at UNLV's PGA Professional Golf Management program within the Harrah Hotel College. For more information about the Monday tournament, call 702-895-3865.

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? Email comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.