Former lawmaker Assefa charged with theft, lying about residency

A former state lawmaker who resigned in January is facing a dozen felony charges stemming from an investigation into misuse of campaign funds and lying about his residency.

The Nevada attorney general’s office on Wednesday filed 12 felony charges against former Assemblyman Alexander Assefa, D-Las Vegas, in Las Vegas Justice Court, including four counts of theft, three counts of perjury and five counts of filing falsified documents for public office. The office also levied against Assefa two charges of filing false residency statements, which are gross misdemeanors.

According to a complaint filed by the attorney general’s office, the former lawmaker stole thousands of dollars in campaign money. Three of the felony charges he is facing are for theft of $3,500 or more, but the complaint does not say exactly how much the state is accusing Assefa of misappropriating.

The complaint also said Assefa filed numerous campaign finance reports with state and local elections offices that falsely reported the amount of campaign money he had received and lied about where he lived.

Assefa was first elected in 2018 to Assembly District 42 the Spring Valley area, and was re-elected in 2020. He resigned from the Legislature in January amid the investigation.

In October, the Review-Journal reported that police were looking into Assefa and transactions made between his campaign account and his personal bank account as well as accounts used by KIB Transport LLC, a company that he and his mother are listed as managing members. Police also investigated whether Assefa actually lives in the district, as is required by law.

Detectives seized records, cellphones, computers, discs and a thumb drive from Assefa during a May raid.

In a resignation letter sent to Gov. Steve Sisolak, Assefa admitted his “mistake,” in regards to the residency requirement, though he did not outright admit to living out of the district.

“I ran to represent this District out of a sincere belief that not only was it my place of residence, but that I was in a unique position to understand and address the needs of the constituents of the district, particularly the large Ethiopian community which resides there,” Assefa wrote.

But Assefa said that after reading the residency requirement of the law, that he was “mistaken.”

An initial court appearance for Assefa’s case was set for May 17.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.