Boggs returns from travel abroad to face charges
Lynette Boggs is back from Africa and headed for court.
The former Clark County commissioner returned from her overseas travels late Tuesday and plans to appear this morning in Las Vegas Justice Court to face charges of lying on her campaign paperwork.
She faces two felony counts each of perjury and filing a false document in connection with documents that she submitted during her failed bid for re-election last year.
District Attorney David Roger filed the charges Monday afternoon, and a judge issued a warrant for Boggs’ arrest. Authorities had expected her to surrender earlier this week, but the 43-year-old was traveling in the West African countries of Ghana and Benin with members of her nonprofit religious group, FaithWorks Foundation.
Her lawyer, Bill Terry, called authorities Wednesday morning about this morning’s court date. Terry filed a motion to reduce bail, which is set at $12,000 cash or a $120,000 surety bond.
Even if Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle lowers bail, Boggs still would be booked at the Clark County Detention Center, Roger said.
Terry has declined to comment on the case.
The charges focus on a pair of campaign documents Boggs filed last year in her bid to keep her commission seat for District F, which spans the southwest part of the county.
On her declaration of candidacy, Boggs said she lived at 6386 Grays River Court, a 1,623-square-foot home inside the district. But her former assistant, Linda Ferris, told investigators that Boggs never lived at that address and concocted a paper-trail scheme to make it look as if she did, according to a report by the Nevada Division of Investigation. Authorities believe Boggs actually lived at 3646 Dutch Valley Drive, a house twice as big and just outside the district.
Boggs also was charged with lying about campaign payments she made to a baby sitter, Kelly Mcleod. Boggs listed the $1,230 in payments as campaign expenses related to special events.
The allegations first were raised during the campaign season by two labor unions, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association and the Culinary Local 226. A private investigator they had hired to track Boggs videotaped her getting the newspaper, retrieving a trash can and completing other everyday activities at the Dutch Valley Drive house.
The video footage hit the evening news and helped seal Boggs’ loss to challenger Susan Brager.
Boggs’ current felony charges might not be the last of her legal troubles.
State investigators are looking at other issues that came up during their initial probe, said Jerry Hafen, deputy chief of the Nevada Division of Investigation.
"It raised some pretty glaring questions that we’re trying to clarify," Hafen said.
One question involves how Boggs paid for a Volvo from a Las Vegas car dealership, he said.
Investigators also were probing some of her campaign expenditures, he said, though he wouldn’t reveal specifics.
"At this point we’re just trying to sort out the facts," Hafen said.
