Former NV Senate Majority Leader Pleads Guilty To Spending $250K Of Campaign Funds For Personal Use

Former Nevada lawmaker Kelvin Atkinson

Former Nevada Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson pleaded guilty today to withdrawing nearly $250,000 from campaign funds for his personal use.

Atkinson resigned from his Senate seat last week. He was Nevada's first openly gay Senate leader, and only the third African-American  to hold the position.

From Fox5Vegas:

Prosecutors said Atkinson used the funds to operate a Las Vegas night club, make payments on personal credit cards and lease a luxury car, among other expenses, the release said.

Atkinson, 49, represented District 4. He was elected to the Nevada Senate in November 2012 and named majority leader in November 2018, the release said.

Atkinson admitted that between January 2010 to December 2017, he devised a scheme to mislead donors contributing to his campaign by falsely telling them he would use the donations for lawful campaign purposes, but instead used his campaign account for personal expenses, the release said.

Because of the manner in which Atkinson withdrew the money, an exact amount is not known, the release said. But Atkinson admitted to spending nearly $250,000 of unreported withdrawals on personal expenses. His personal spending of campaign funds included $100,000 in payments on his personal credit cards, $75,000 toward opening and operating a night club and $20,000 on leasing a Jaguar SUV, among other expenses.

The statutory maximum sentence for wire fraud is 20 years, the release said. Atkinson has agreed to pay $249,900 in restitution.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 11.

Atkinson famously came out during a 2013 debate in the Senate regarding repealing Nevada’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The following year, he and his husband were among the first same-sex couples to be married in Nevada.

As a proud gay Democratic Nevadan, living in Las Vegas for 15 years, I'm disgusted that Atkinson would be so unethical.

There are no excuses for such a blatant disregard for the law and personal integrity.

Hi There...

Former NYC talent agent Peter Strain pleads GUILTY to stealing more than $500K from clients

So, according to reports, former talent agent Peter Strain in NYC stole over $500K from one client in 2011.

Ultimately, to pay the client back, Strain stole from another client.

And on and on it went.

From the FBI:

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced that Peter Strain, a talent agent for film, television, and Broadway actors, pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court to stealing more than half-a-million dollars from his clients, which he used to purchase personal luxury retail goods and artwork, among other things.

Strain was originally charged in November 2013, and he pled guilty today before United States District Judge George B. Daniels.

Between approximately 2011 and 2013, Strain diverted money he received on behalf of three clients and used it to, among other things, pay for personal luxury retail goods and artwork. In order to conceal his theft and ensure that his clients allowed him to continue receiving money on their behalf, Strain repeatedly lied to his clients about why he had failed to timely remit their money.