Arberry plea deal

Crime is not supposed to pay. But former Assemblyman Morse Arberry rarely pays.

He doesn’t pay his bills. He doesn’t pay his property taxes or other fees for public services in a timely fashion. He certainly doesn’t pay attention to the laws he helped write for 25 years.

And now he won’t pay for stealing more than $121,000 from his campaign and spending it on heaven knows what.

Criminals must not benefit from their misdeeds. That standard is especially important for people in positions of public trust. Those who exploit political power for personal gain cannot be allowed to make a mockery of the systems they impose on the rest of us. If they benefit from special treatment, both before and after their betrayals are made known, then taxpayers will rapidly lose confidence in the integrity of their government. The foundation of democracy will erode.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto had a solid felony case against a former elected official who never saw an ethical line he wouldn’t cross. Arberry, who retired from the Legislature last year just before his final term expired, had deposited checks made out to his campaign into personal accounts, and he never reported the contributions to the state.

It was Arberry’s most brazen act in a Hall of Shame career. He lived outside the district he represented. He double-dipped from a no-work city of Las Vegas job while serving in Carson City, falsely claiming sick pay and hours worked. He all but claimed amnesia in 2006 testimony before the state Ethics Commission. And last year, he actively sought a taxpayer-funded, $100,000 lobbying contract from the Clark County courts — while still serving as a lawmaker.

But instead of prosecuting Arberry, the Democratic attorney general agreed to let her fellow Democrat plead guilty last week to a single misdemeanor — fraudulent appropriation of property — and to drop six felony counts. The plea deal stipulates that Arberry pay a $1,000 fine, get a six-month suspended jail sentence and make restitution to the donors he bilked at the robust clip of at least $100 per month.

At that rate, Arberry, who is not quite 60 and claims to be destitute, will need more than 100 years to make good.

In other words, Arberry won’t pay. Again.

Ms. Masto has established a dangerous precedent in her lenient treatment of Arberry.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan will hold an April 25 status hearing to receive an update on Arberry’s conduct and repayment record. We’d like to remind her that Arberry is in line for generous city and legislative pensions.

At a minimum, out of principle, Arberry’s entire legislative pension should be diverted to restitution. He should not be rewarded, at public expense, for disgracing his office.

Crime shouldn’t pay.