Nye County Commission seeks investigation of sheriff

Nye County commissioners will ask state authorities to investigate whether Sheriff Tony DeMeo broke the law when he overspent his department's budget by more than $1 million.

The commissioners voted Wednesday to refer the matter to the Nevada attorney general's office in a move that could get DeMeo booted from office.

Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi said the sheriff could face at least one misdemeanor charge. If convicted, he would be automatically removed from his elected post, Kunzi said.

He said audit reports show the sheriff's department overspent its roughly $12 million budget by $1.03 million during the fiscal year that ended June 30 and by more than $700,000 the previous year.

Asked where the money went, Kunzi said, "He spent it. Most of it's overtime."

He said there is evidence suggesting the sheriff knew he was spending money his office did not have.

"The commissioners certainly believe he knew," Kunzi said.

But attorney Adam Levine, who represents DeMeo, said he and his client have yet to see any audited financial information that proves the department spent too much money.

In a statement on DeMeo's behalf, Levine said there was "no willful expenditure of funds beyond those budgeted by the Board of County Commissioners."

Levine said the sheriff's office was told on May 22, less than two months before the end of the fiscal year, that it had a surplus of more than $800,000. To go over budget by as much as the county now alleges, DeMeo's office would have had to spend almost $2 million in 39 days.

Instead of referring the matter to the attorney general's office, the commission could have voted to augment the sheriff's budget to account for the additional expenditures.

According to an account of Wednesday's meeting in the Pahrump Valley Times newspaper, Commissioner Lorinda Wichman chastised DeMeo for forcing the commission into an "extremely painful" decision. "This action, Tony, makes me want to go out back and get rid of my cookie," Wichman said.

Commissioner Joni Eastley, who joined in the 4-0 vote to refer the matter to state authorities, said she couldn't discuss what prompted the move.

Reached for comment Thursday, an upbeat DeMeo declined to talk about the allegations but said he has full faith in the justice system.

"I'm going to leave it in the hands of the attorney general's office," he said.

Late Wednesday, the sheriff sent an email to his employees informing them of the commission's action and expressing his regret for "any negativity that this may reflect on you or this office."

All he can do now, he wrote, is wait to see what happens with the state's investigation.

"I have believed in the system we have since I took my first oath of office for this profession in 1973," DeMeo wrote. "It is the system I believe in, and the system we work in."

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.