Website scrutinized in McCarran theft case
Prosecutors suspect three former McCarran International Airport technicians charged with theft are behind a bizarre website that surfaced briefly in April to intimidate witnesses in the criminal case.
The website — itshoprats.com — contained personal information, including Social Security numbers and photographs, of the witnesses and leveled racial slurs and false allegations of wrongdoing against them, Chief Deputy District Attorney Mike Staudaher said in court papers.
Staudaher disclosed the website’s short-lived existence in a motion seeking bail for the three defendants: Matthew Charniga, 39, Joseph Cordova, 35, and Chad Norton, 34.
All three technicians, who were fired from their jobs of installing and repairing airport security cameras, are free on their own recognizance and have hired prominent defense attorneys.
Some of the witnesses, who worked with the defendants in the airport’s IT shop, testified before the grand jury that indicted the three men.
"Although the state at this time cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that one or more of the defendants were directly behind the posting of this website onto the Internet, it is clear that the defendants are the only ones who would have the motive for doing so," Staudaher wrote.
"In fact, the defendants are the only ones who might benefit if the posting of the information produced the desired effect of dissuading or intimidating the witnesses against them from testifying."
Staudaher said the publishing of Social Security numbers on the website also exposed the prosecution’s witnesses to identity theft.
Airport officials had to hire a law firm to send out cease and desist letters threatening legal action to get the website taken down, Staudaher said.
"Attempts were made to determine the persons responsible for the development and airing of the website, but the trail led to a rerouted account somewhere in Malaysia," he wrote. "The persons responsible, therefore, obviously had considerable computer-related knowledge, which the defendants possess."
McCarran officials sought the help of the law firm after they determined the website, which registered the itshoprats.com domain on April 11, was violating privacy and defamation laws, an airport source said.
The Clark County Aviation Department logo also appeared on the website, which the source said misled viewers into thinking the publicly funded airport sanctioned the site.
"This wasn’t right," the source said. "We didn’t want our employees to feel like they were being intimidated."
The website was taken down shortly after the airport threatened legal action.
District Judge Jessie Walsh has set a July 11 hearing to discuss bail for the theft defendants and come up with a trial date that can accommodate the busy schedules of their attorneys, John Momot, Thomas Pitaro and William Terry.
Momot and Pitaro declined to comment on the website allegations but said they intended to respond in court papers to the district attorney’s bail motions. Terry could not be reached for comment.
The three technicians, who were arrested in February, since have been indicted on charges of conspiracy, burglary and theft.
Airport officials had reported they bought high-tech universal remotes and other electronic equipment for themselves using airport purchase orders.
Charniga, a felon who pleaded guilty in 1994 to voluntary manslaughter in a shooting death, also faces a felony weapons possession charge.
The value of the equipment the defendants are charged with stealing is about $2,800, but investigators suspect the thefts might have occurred for several years.
Investigators also discovered evidence of tampering with a surveillance camera watching over the building on the county-run airport’s grounds where the technicians worked.
All three defendants were part of McCarran’s Information Systems Division, which has about 80 employees who provide technical help to airport departments.
Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
