Nevada Pardons Board rules no clemency for double killer

CARSON CITY — Despite the pleas of prison chaplains, the state Pardons Board refused Wednesday to grant clemency to a Las Vegas man who killed two men execution-style 26 years ago.

Gov. Brian Sandoval, the board chairman, said he could not pardon 73-year-old Theodore Tsatsa because of the serious nature of his crime.

Tsatsa told board members that he now "walks with God" daily. He is serving a life sentence for killing two drug trade rivals in 1985 by handcuffing them, throwing them on the floor and repeatedly shooting them in the head.

Throughout the Pardons Board meeting, members showed little sympathy for commuting the sentences of murderers, rapists and others who swore they have turned their lives around.

Also turned away was Ernest Di­Gennaro, 59, who spent 16 years in prison before being paroled in 1998 for first-degree murder. He since has become the millionaire owner of a Reno dance floor manufacturing company. DiGennaro wanted permission to travel to international and out-of-state business meetings without first having to go through his parole officer.

Faring slightly better was Jeffrey Brillhart, 49, who has spent nearly 22 years in prison for six counts of raping his neighbor in Las Vegas. While Brillhart’s lawyer, William Terry, pleaded for him to get a chance for parole in 2013, Sandoval insisted he serve longer.

The nine members then decided Brillhart would be eligible for release with Parole Board agreement in 2018.

Under rules of the Pardons Board, no clemency can be granted unless the governor votes for it. The nine-member board consists of all seven state Supreme Court justices, the attorney general and the governor.

And the governor made it known to other members that he would not support clemency for Tsatsa, a former Nevada Test Site labor foreman. Police confiscated five pounds of heroin and $50,000 at the crime scene.

"I’m truly sorry," Tsatsa told the board. "I’m not the same person. I am a changed man."

A former prison chaplain offered to have Tsatsa live with him. Tsatsa’s son, a former San Francisco police officer, also pleaded for the release of his father.

But Clark County Deputy District Attorney Steve Owens questioned granting mercy to someone who committed two murders. He noted Tsatsa could have received the death penalty, but he agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.