Former Nevada employee receives probation for theft

The former deputy director of the Nevada Board of Osteopathic Medicine received five years of probation Monday after pleading guilty to embezzling the medical board's money.

District Judge David Barker suspended two consecutive prison sentences of 12 to 48 months for John E. Delap III, more commonly known as Trey Delap.

In addition to probation, Delap, 30, was ordered to pay $60,698 in restitution.

Delap must attend Gamblers Anonymous and impulse control classes, stay away from gaming establishments and disclose his crimes to present and future employers.

"Mr. Delap abused his role with the Osteopathic Medicine Board and stole public funds for his own personal use," said Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. "I am pleased that the courts have held him accountable for his actions."

The attorney general's office discovered that Delap stole $60,698 from the board during his employment between November 2004 and January 2006.

Delap's guilty plea came on the heels of a similar case to which he pleaded guilty. Delap signed a plea agreement to escape jail time for embezzlement while employed by Administrators in Medicine, a nonprofit national organization that supports the work of state licensing boards.

Last year, Leslie Gallant, the former president of AIM, told the Review-Journal that Delap's behavior made it difficult to carry out the organization's mission, which includes training investigators who look into medical malpractice claims.

"What he did hits very hard," she said. "There's no advanced training for this job, which makes our training activities critical."

Delap served as treasurer of the organization between Dec. 18, 2003, and Nov. 15, 2004. During that time, Delap also held his position with the state osteopathic board.

Following his arrest in 2007 on the AIM charges, Delap told Las Vegas police that he had a gambling problem.

"While I was treasurer, I was also compulsively gambling. I spent all of my spare personal money on gambling and when that money ran out, I began issuing checks from the AIM account to myself," he told police.

Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.