Ex-NBA star Lamar Odom won’t face drug charges in Nye County

By Wesley Juhl Las Vegas Review-Journal

9 years ago

Basketball player Lamar Odom speaks at a news conference announcing his acquisition by the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles, California in this July 2, 2012, file photo. Odom was hospitalized on October 13, 2015, after he was found unresponsive at a Nevada brothel, law enforcement officials said. (Reuters/Mario Anzuoni/Files)

The Nye County Sheriff‘s Office confirmed the toxicology results have been received in the Lamar Odom case by their department Tuesday, but were mum on any further details and wouldn‘t confirm the reported positive test for cocaine. Special to the Pahrump Valley Times

Lamar Odom (L), basketball player with the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA, and his wife Khloe Kardashian-Odom arrive for the 19th annual Race to Erase MS Gala in Los Angeles in this May 18, 2012, file photo. Odom was hospitalized on October 13, 2015, after he was found unresponsive at a Nevada brothel, law enforcement officials said. REUTERS/Phil McCarten/Files

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Former NBA player Lamar Odom had employees at the Love Ranch sign confidentiality agreements upon his visit, brothel owner Dennis Hof said. Daria Sokolova/Pahrump Valley Times

A sign at Dennis Hof‘s Love Ranch brothel in Crystal, Nevada near Pahrump where former NBA standout Lamar Odom was found unconscious, is shown Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. Kimberly De La Cruz/Las Vegas Review-Journal

Former NBA player Lamar Odom was found unresponsive at Love Ranch, a legal brothel in Crystal, Nevada. (CNN)

The Love Ranch brothel VIP suite is shown Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015, where Lamar Odom, was found unconscious Tuesday afternoon. Odom, a former NBA star and husband of Khloe Kardsahian was found by two legal prostitutes. Kimberly De La Cruz/Las Vegas Review-Journal

The bed inside Love Ranch brothel VIP suite where Lamar Odom was found unconscious is shown Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. Odom, a former NBA star and husband of Khloe Kardsahian was found by two legal prostitutes. Kimberly De La Cruz/Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nye County prosecutors decided not to file charges against ex-NBA and reality TV star Lamar Odom on Monday.

Nye County District Attorney Angela Bello cited the fact that Odom was not found to be in possession of drugs.

“Although the evidence showed Mr. Odom had metabolized cocaine in his system while he was present in Nye County in October of 2015, he was not found in possession of cocaine and it is unlikely it could be established beyond a reasonable doubt he actually ingested, or was impaired by, the drug during the time he was within the jurisdiction of Nye County,” she said in an email to the Review-Journal.

The Nye County Sheriff’s Office said it had recommended charges against Odom months earlier, when the test results on Odom’s blood came back, and was not consulted about this decision, according to a department spokesman.

“It is the sole responsibility of my office to make a legal determination as to whether we believe we can prove formal charges in a court of law ‘beyond a reasonable doubt,'” Bello said.

Odom was found unconscious Oct. 13 after a four-day bender at the Dennis Hof-owned Love Ranch in Crystal, about 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

None of the staff had seen him take illegal drugs at the brothel, but two women Odom spent nearly three days with him on his reportedly $75,000 stay told detectives they thought he was using cocaine in the bathroom that adjoined the suite where he was staying.

“They indicated that they heard him snorting,” Detective Michael Eisenloffel told a judge in a phone call hours after Odom was found. Eisenloffel was requesting a search warrant to test Odom’s blood.

Eisenloffel told the judge that the description given by the prostitutes of the unconscious Odom, with a white substance coming from his mouth and blood from his nose, are common signs of a drug overdose, in his opinion.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl