Man gets prison for sexual assault, impersonating officer
A District Court judge on Tuesday sentenced a 41-year-old man to the maximum sentence under the law for posing as a Las Vegas police detective and sexually assaulting two women, one a 17-year-old.
Judge Valorie Vega sentenced Philip Taft to 11 years to life in prison for the 2009 attacks.
Taft pleaded guilty in September to felony sexual assault and impersonating a police officer, a misdemeanor. As part of the plea deal with prosecutors, six other charges were dropped.
Dressed in navy blue jail scrubs with his arms and legs shackled, Taft wept as he apologized for what he had done.
“I’m ashamed and unbelievably embarrassed,” Taft said as he cried. “There are no excuses. I’m truly sorry.”
Taft said he took responsibility for his actions before his attorney, Jennifer Bolton, asked for a lesser sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison. Bolton said Taft made “stupid, stupid choices” that were fueled by alcohol.
Prosecutor Lisa Luzaich responded to several letters from Taft’s family and friends to the judge, which questioned Taft’s guilt. One suggested the evidence against Taft was fabricated.
Luzaich said Taft’s family “enables him to be what he is” by continuing to ignore the evidence.
She pointed to one letter to the judge that said Taft wasn’t capable of committing such a crime.
Luzaich responded, “He pled guilty. So not only is he capable of it, he did it.”
Luzaich, who asked for the maximum prison sentence, added that Taft had a history of run-ins with the law, including stalking a woman and battery against the mother of his daughter.
Bolton said that Taft had only two previous misdemeanor convictions and that the other charges Luzaich referred to were dropped.
In one incident, authorities said Taft, who was a floor supervisor at The Venetian, approached a 17-year-old near Tropicana Avenue and Wynn Boulevard on July 26, 2009. He flashed a badge and identified himself as a plainclothes detective and said he had a gun. He then took the teenager to an undisclosed area and assaulted her.
As part of the plea deal, the charges related to the second incident were dropped.
In the second incident, investigators alleged Taft picked up a woman near a Panda Express on West Tropicana Avenue near Decatur Boulevard, where she was working as a prostitute.
Once she was in his car, Taft told her he was a police officer and had a gun and a badge under the seat.
The victim told police that Taft said she had to perform oral sex or have sex with him to avoid going to jail. She said Taft drove her to an area near Sunset and Fort Apache roads and sexually assaulted her.
The woman said that Taft then told her he actually was a lawyer and that she asked for money. The woman said Taft told her all he had was $10 and gave it to her.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.
