Boggs to pay $2,000 fine in residency case

In the end, former Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs' criminal case was quietly resolved. There was no drawn-out trial, no jail time.

On Tuesday, Boggs pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false statement of residency, a gross misdemeanor. District Judge Donald Mosley ordered Boggs to pay a $2,000 fine.

She entered an Alford plea, meaning she didn't admit wrongdoing but acknowledged that prosecutors could prove their case against her.

After sentencing, Boggs appeared upbeat and relieved to have the case -- and Las Vegas -- behind her. She's now living in Texas with her parents and is considering going to law school. She wants to be a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer.

"Despite everything I've gone through, I feel like a tremendously blessed person," Boggs said. "I really believe things happen for a reason, to give us an opportunity to figure out what we're doing."

She said she has no plans to run for public office again.

"It's been an interesting journey," said Boggs, a former reporter.

The charges against Boggs stemmed from two documents she filed in 2006 to continue her candidacy for the District F seat, representing the southwest part of the valley.

In one document, she stated in a campaign finance report that she paid $1,230 to a baby sitter and claimed the fee as a campaign expense. She was charged with perjury, accused of lying to authorities about the fee. Boggs eventually repaid the campaign the baby-sitting money.

Mosley in February dropped those charges against her.

In another document, Boggs claimed to be living at a house within her district. However, an investigation paid for by two unions, the Police Protective Association and the Culinary union, found evidence to dispute that.

Investigators in a six-week period videotaped Boggs picking up newspapers, taking out trash and coming and going from a house at 3646 Dutch Valley Drive, which is outside her district.

It's believed the unions targeted her because she was expected to oppose a new police contract that would have given police officers a raise. Boggs also has ties to Station Casinos, a foe of the Culinary union.

Boggs said Tuesday that she's still amazed that the unions would go to so much trouble to investigate her.

"It was all so over the top," she said. "I never really realized how much of a threat I was politically to certain entities."

Chris Collins, executive director for the PPA, said the union didn't believe Boggs should be allowed to break the law and, therefore, not serve her constituents.

The Culinary union declined to comment.

In 1999, Boggs, then an assistant Las Vegas city manager, was appointed to the Las Vegas City Council to fill a seat vacated by Arnie Adamsen.

She ran unsuccessfully against congresswoman Shelley Berkley in 2002 and was appointed to the County Commission two years later. She beat a challenger later that year and held onto the seat.

But in 2006 Boggs lost her most re-election bid to challenger Susan Brager.

Her husband, Steven McDonald, also filed for divorce against her that year.

The divorce, she said, was especially difficult, claiming her experience in Family Court was much worse than in District Court where her criminal case was heard.

But Boggs said it's all behind her.

"There's two things I'm trying to avoid," she said. "Politics and marriage."

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.