Las Vegas trial set for woman charged with mailing threats
A woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that stem from threatening letters sent to her mother’s former supervisor at Planet Hollywood Resort and to attorneys representing the resort’s parent company.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Cam Ferenbach scheduled a Jan. 27 trial for Latonia Smith, 25, who remains in custody.
The woman’s attorney, Nicholas Wooldridge, declined to comment after the hearing.
Smith was indicted last week on five counts of mailing threatening communications. The charges involve letters sent to her mother’s former supervisor and to attorneys representing Caesars Entertainment Corp.
According to court records, Smith sent letters claiming that her mother, Annecer Peruzar, was fired because of her supervisor’s racial bias.
The supervisor, Samantha Radak, said she fired Peruzar in 2017 “for allegedly taking change from a customer while cleaning the customer’s room,” according to court records.
In one message, Smith used a pseudonym and said that her mother was accused of stealing $1 and that her mother “would never jeopardize her job over a tip you can’t even buy a Coke with,” prosecutors allege. She claimed the underlying issue was race and wrote, “We won’t tolerate hate and we’ll make sure there’s no place in our society for you animals,” according to court records.
In an August 2018 letter, she is accused of writing, “You will all die.”
On Oct. 31, 2019, prosecutor allege, Smith showed up at the apartment of one of Caesars’ attorneys with a gun. The attorney, Wade Beavers, was able to get away and call police while Smith fled, according to court records.
Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.