Defendants in courthouse scam plead not guilty to charges
Defense lawyer Brian Bloomfield and four others pleaded not guilty Wednesday to criminal charges contained in a new 60-count indictment that details a sweeping courthouse counseling scam.
Bloomfield, 36, former counseling service owner Steven Brox, 46, and juvenile probation officer Robert Chiodini, 41, originally were indicted in December in a scheme that provided prostitutes and other defendants with phony certificates of completion for court-ordered counseling and community service. They face a variety of charges, including conspiracy to commit a crime, forgery and offering a false instrument for filing or record.
The superseding indictment filed earlier this month added two new defendants to the scheme: Bloomfield’s wife, Amber McDearmon, 28, and bail bondsman Thomas Jaskol, 32. Bloomfield and the two new defendants are charged with conspiring to destroy evidence in the case.
District Judge Jessie Walsh set a March 14 hearing to determine a trial date for the five defendants, who all are free on bail.
The destruction of evidence case revolves around the testimony of Brandon Snowden, a jailed felon and former Bloomfield employee. Snowden, 28, told a county grand jury that he helped Bloomfield, McDearmon and Jaskol destroy office records linked to the investigation during a late-night rendezvous after a police raid in April 2010.
At the time, Bloomfield and McDearmon were not married but were living together. The couple had twins in October, and county records show they were married in January.
McDearmon has a gross misdemeanor conviction for conspiracy to commit burglary, and her case is one of those identified in the superseding indictment as including phony certificates of completion.
Bloomfield represented McDearmon, who never showed up for dozens of hours of court-ordered community service but ended up getting certificates of completion for the hours, according to grand jury transcripts.
Prosecutors have filed court papers seeking to reopen her sentencing.
Jaskol co-owned Downtown Bail Bonds, 608 S. Third St., in April 2010 when the law office records were destroyed, grand jury transcripts show. His company no longer is in business.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
