Article Courtesy of The Las Vegas
Review-Journal
By Jeff German
Published
August 9, 2015
Former construction company boss Leon Benzer, the man
behind the massive scheme to take over and defraud Las Vegas-area
homeowners associations, was sentenced Thursday to 15 ½ years in federal
prison.
U.S. District Judge James Mahan also ordered Benzer to serve five years
of supervised release after prison and pay $13.4 million in restitution.
Benzer, 48, who pleaded guilty to
conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges, is to
surrender to prison authorities Nov. 6.
He was among the last of 39 defendants to be sentenced
in the largest known public corruption case in Southern
Nevada. Three defendants died, one by suicide and two by
natural causes, before they could be sentenced.
In handing out Benzer's sentence, Mahan said the best
advice Benzer got from his lawyer, Daniel Albregts, was
to plead guilty in the long-running case in January.
That prompted Mahan to hand out a lighter sentence than
the nearly 20 years Justice Department lawyers had
sought."It was
mind-boggling — the corruption," Mahan said. "This whole
thing was really very unsettling. The scope of it, the
scale of it was absolutely astounding." |
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Leon Benzer, the mastermind of the scheme to take
over and defraud HOAs in Southern Nevada, leaves the Lloyd D.
George U.S. Courthouse on Thursday after being sentenced to 15
1/2 years in prison.
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Benzer appeared to be on the verge of fainting after Mahan ordered him
to prison. He was allowed to walk back to the defense table, where he
staggered for a moment before sitting down.
Benzer did not address Mahan in court, but provided the judge with a
letter apologizing for his actions and explaining that he feels
"completely lost" in the aftermath of the FBI-led investigation.
"I don't blame anyone but my own stupidity," he said, adding that he
worries his former wife, who uses a wheelchair, and young son with
autism won't get the family care they need with him in prison.
Following the sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Leslie
Caldwell, who heads the Justice Department's Criminal Division in
Washington, hailed the work of the law enforcement agencies in the
high-profile case — the FBI, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
and IRS Criminal Investigation.
"Leon Benzer recruited and paid off puppets to serve on homeowners'
boards so that they would steer lucrative contracts to his company and
cronies," Caldwell said. "Far from enjoying their corrupt proceeds,
however, Benzer and his co-conspirators will serve years behind prison
bars."
In court papers, lawyers with the Criminal Division's Fraud Section,
said the wide-ranging conspiracy left a trail of ruin in its wake,
including HOAs with substandard repair work, defrauded mortgage
companies and homeowners with diminished property values.
"Indeed Benzer by himself caused a (more than) 40-person crime wave in
the Las Vegas Valley between 2005 and 2009, perpetrating crimes
including mortgage fraud, election fraud, threats of violence and
intimidation, abuse of the judicial process, tax fraud and obstruction
of justice," prosecutors wrote.
Benzer and the late construction-defect lawyer Nancy Quon were the
"principal architects" of the multimillion-dollar scheme, according to
prosecutors. The goal was to gain control of HOA boards through election
rigging, obtain construction-defect litigation contracts for Quon and,
ultimately, funnel repair work to Benzer's company, Silver Lining
Construction.
Quon never was charged, but killed herself in March 2012 under the
weight of the federal investigation that began in November 2007. As many
as a dozen HOAs were targeted by the Benzer organization.
Albregts insisted Thursday that Benzer, with his learning deficiencies
and low level of intelligence, was incapable of being the mastermind of
the takeover scheme and deferred to Quon while she was alive.
But lead prosecutor Charles La Bella didn't share that opinion.
"I don't know Al Capone's education, but he ran a pretty good criminal
organization," La Bella said. "Mr. Benzer was chairman of the board of
this conspiracy from day one."
La Bella also suggested Benzer is disingenuous about the impact of HOA
investigation on his life.
"I can't stand up and let Leon Benzer spin another tale," La Bella told
Mahan. "He's not lost at all."
La Bella cited a photo, entered into evidence, showing Benzer and former
girlfriend Marcella Triana enjoying themselves poolside at the Green
Valley Ranch resort last Friday. Triana pleaded guilty and agreed to
cooperate in the case.
Albregts said there was nothing nefarious about the photo.
Benzer's sister was staying at the resort, and Benzer was merely there
to "decompress" in anticipation of his sentencing, Albregts said.
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