Ex-official’s son arrested again

The son and daughter-in-law of former Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates were in handcuffs again Friday, this time on federal tax charges.

Internal Revenue Service agents arrested Brian Atkinson-Turner and his wife, Kathryn O'Gara, about 10 a.m. as they walked out of the Regional Justice Center, where a hearing in their unrelated child endangerment and drug case had been postponed.

A federal grand jury indicted the couple last week on charges of filing a false tax return and failing to file corporate tax returns.

The couple used money from their company, Ad Vibe, to cover personal car and home mortgage payments, and they were paid roughly $169,000 from Atkinson Gates' 2004 campaign fund, the indictment said. But their 2004 personal income tax returns listed only $12,523 in income, according to the indictment, which was sealed until Thursday.

The indictment also said the couple didn't file corporate tax returns for Ad Vibe in 2004 and 2005, despite the company earning at least $310,000 during those two years.

Atkinson-Turner, 25, and O'Gara, 26, could face up to four years in prison each and $350,000 in fines each if convicted on all counts.

They each pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance during a brief hearing Friday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge George W. Foley.

Reached by phone, Atkinson Gates said she had no comment on her son's arrest.

In August, Las Vegas police arrested the couple after a search of their Southern Highlands home turned up a stash of marijuana, feces on walls and a refrigerator containing nothing but yogurt.

Police responded to the house after two people reported seeing a black Mercedes sedan driving erratically in the area.

The witnesses, who also told police they saw a toddler unbuckled in the car, followed the sedan to the couple's home and called police.

Officers also found loaded handguns on the car's floorboard and under the bed in the master bedroom, according to a police report.

During a hearing in the case in January, O'Gara testified that Las Vegas police and agents with the FBI and IRS tried to interview her about an ongoing investigation into Atkinson Gates and threatened to take her 3-year-old daughter if she didn't help them.

She refused to talk with them, she said.

Las Vegas police have been investigating the former commissioner and campaign cash she paid to her son and daughter-in-law from her 2004 election war chest.

According to campaign expense reports, Atkinson Gates' campaign paid the couple and their company more than $407,000 from the 2004 fund.

Law enforcement sources have said the investigation was focused on whether the cash was laundered and wound up back in Atkinson Gates' hands.

Las Vegas police Deputy Chief Kathy Suey said Friday's arrests wouldn't affect the investigation.

Atkinson Gates coasted to a landslide victory in 2004 and a fourth term on the powerful county board.

She resigned from the commission in January 2007, saying she wanted to spend more time with family and pursue education and business opportunities.

Review-Journal writers Lynnette Curtis and Adrienne Packer contributed to this report. Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0281.