Maynard "Joe" Richards
Brothel owner in agreement changes plea to guilty. Photo from LV Review-Journal.
75 year old Maynard “Joe” Richards pleaded guilty to a bribery charge yesterday in U.S. District Court, in Las Vegas.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 15.
Richards admitted to paying $5,000 to Candice Trummell, then chairwoman of the Nye County Commission, so she would rewrite an ordinance that kept him from building a new brothel at the south end of Pahrump, 60 miles west of Las Vegas. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
But there is a question whether U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones will accept the terms of the plea agreement. Jones said he had "severe reservations" about letting Richards avoid prison because the longtime brothel owner tried to "pervert a public official" for the benefit of what the judge called "an immoral business."
The judge indicated Richards may lose his brothel licenses because of the felony wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Richards holds the licenses for three of the seven legal bordellos in Nye County, including Mabel’s Ranch, Cherry Patch Ranch and Cherry Patch II Ranch, all north of Pahrump. He also owns a massage parlor and a Pahrump strip club called The Kingdom. He also owns the Pahrump Mirror, a weekly Nye County Newspaper.
If the judge rejects the terms of the plea bargain then Richards can withdraw his plea and go to trial.
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