Judge puts Quon-Webb drug case on hold, at prosecutors’ request

At the request of prosecutors, District Judge Douglas Herndon on Tuesday halted indefinitely a criminal drug conspiracy case against construction defects lawyer Nancy Quon and her boyfriend, former police officer William Ronald Webb.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Sandra DiGiacomo asked Herndon to put the case on hold until the Nevada Supreme Court decides whether to overturn the judge’s decision to dismiss a broader criminal case against Quon and Webb that included arson and insurance fraud charges. The drug conspiracy charges also are part of that case.

Quon’s criminal defense lawyer, Thomas Pitaro, did not object to the delay, and Herndon set an April 10 status check hearing.

Quon remains a key target of a Justice Department investigation into a scheme to take control of Las Vegas Valley homeowners associations. The scheme involved stacking association boards with friendly members who would hand out legal work and construction defect contracts to co-conspirators.

DiGiacomo told Herndon in court on Tuesday that her office was appealing his decision to toss out the arson case.

Quon, 51, was charged in an October 2010 plot to set fire to her Rhodes Ranch home and kill herself. Authorities think Quon was looking to escape the pressure of the federal investigation.

Herndon ruled last week that the judge who oversees grand jury matters had abused her discretion by allowing prosecutors to obtain the indictment after a previous panel had refused to file arson and insurance fraud charges against Quon and Webb.

Herndon concluded that District Judge Linda Bell should have gotten more detailed information from prosecutors about their intentions before allowing them to go back to a new grand jury.

The judge did not fault prosecutors for seeking the charges, saying the evidence they ended up presenting to the new panel appeared to support an arson indictment.

Quon originally was indicted in April on a single felony count of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The indictment charged that Quon provided the cash for Webb to unlawfully buy the club drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid from undercover detectives. Police contended Quon was trying to arrange her own death with the drug, which police said the couple incorrectly thought would be undetectable.

Webb, 43, also was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, but the grand jury refused to charge both Quon and Webb in the fire, which caused some $300,000 in damage to Quon’s home.

With Bell’s permission, prosecutors later presented the arson evidence to a new grand jury and obtained the indictment against the couple in August.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.