Evidence: CSN materials at house

William "Bob" Gilbert's million-dollar house near Mount Charleston was built partly with expensive commercial-grade construction material that may have been stolen from the College of Southern Nevada, according to testimony before the grand jury that indicted him and three others last month.

Gilbert, CSN's associate vice president for facilities management, has previously denied any wrongdoing.

His attorney, John Momot, said Tuesday that he could not yet get into the case's specifics.

He characterized the investigation into Gilbert, however, as misguided and said he will fight the charges.

"There are a lot of errors or misconceptions about what went on," he said. "Everybody was quick to pull the trigger."

Transcripts of two days of testimony before a Clark County grand jury paint a picture of wanton rule-breaking by Gilbert and his employees. Gilbert was indicted on 13 felony counts of theft and four counts of misconduct of a public officer. He has pleaded not guilty.

Co-defendants Thad Skinner, Matthew Goins and George Casal also have pleaded not guilty.

Further allegations made before the grand jury, according to the transcripts released Tuesday, indicate that a local construction company may have been paying CSN employees to perform work on Gilbert's house during time they should have been working at the college.

Representatives of the company, WGDL, did not respond to a phone message left late Tuesday afternoon. The company's offices were raided last year by state investigators, along with CSN and Gilbert's house.

Testimony indicated that WGDL was a contractor for both CSN and Gilbert.

Several other local construction companies were mentioned in the testimony, but it is unclear what role, if any, they have in the criminal case.

Chief Deputy State Attorney General Conrad Hafen has previously said that more indictments could be coming in the case. He would not comment further on Tuesday.

"These charges will be held in abeyance and at some point we could go back" to the grand jury, he said.

According to testimony by state investigator Anthony Ruggiero, Casal, Goins and Skinner acknowledged doing work at Gilbert's house when they should have been working at CSN.

Detailed cell phone records showed that they made calls from the Mount Charleston area during work hours, according to the testimony.

Skinner told the investigator that WGDL, the construction company, paid him, though he did not work for the company.

"He said he thought it was Bob's way of giving him a bonus for doing a good job," the investigator testified.

Casal, too, said he got paid by WGDL for work he did at Gilbert's house, though he was not a WGDL employee.

Other testimony indicated that investigators saw numerous materials at Gilbert's house that were identical to those used at CSN. Examples included cinder blocks, expensive door locks and wood.

"No pun intended," testified former CSN employee Mario Balderas, who visited Gilbert's house, "but it looked like one of our campuses."

Gilbert told the Review-Journal in an interview last month that he used his vast property to store and repair CSN equipment. He said the college does not have a storage and repair facility on any of its three local campuses.

Two former CSN presidents backed up that assertion.

But Salvatore Saporito, the college's former facilities manager, testified that there is adequate room on CSN's Charleston campus for storage.

Further testimony from Clark County senior building inspector Jerry Tippetts, who said he had more than 20 years of experience, showed odd construction materials were used on Gilbert's house.

Tippetts said thicker boarding than normal was used, as was expensive electrical conduit one would normally see only in commercial projects.

"It appeared that somebody had a lot of money ..." he said. "They were using methods and materials in there that I have never seen used in even a high-end residential" project.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.