Nye County commissioner found guilty of felony bribery

A former Nye County Commissioner was convicted Wednesday on charges of trying to bribe a Pahrump Town Board member.

A District Court jury in Pahrump found Peter Liakopoulos guilty of felony bribery and misdemeanor counts of offering a reward for an appointment and graft by a public officer.

Authorities accused Liakopoulos of trying to bribe Pahrump Town Board Chairwoman Laurayne Murray by promising his support for a sales tax increase if the board named his wife as curator for a local veterans memorial that was being developed.

The Nevada attorney general's office brought charges against Liakopoulos in June 2008. At the time, the county commissioner said he expected to be "completely exonerated."

He resigned from the commission on Dec. 31 with two years left on his term so he could focus on defending himself from the charges.

Liakopoulos is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 24.

According to the attorney general's office, the Pahrump Town Board did not appoint Liakopoulos's wife to the unpaid job of volunteer curator.

When the sales tax issue came before the Nye County Commission in December 2007, Liakopoulos voted against it and the measure failed 3-2.