Lengthy Prison Term Ordered for Former Nevada Legislator Harley L. Harmon
Las Vegas, Nev. - Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada, Ellen B. Knowlton, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for Nevada, and Clark County Sheriff Bill Young, of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, announce that former State of Nevada legislator, HARLEY L. HARMON, age 55, of Las Vegas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro to 57 months in federal prison for his convictions on 34 counts of Mail Fraud, violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. HARMON was convicted in February of this year following an 11-day jury trial. HARMON was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims of his offense in the amount of $2,740,125.54, and will have to forfeit assets which were the proceeds of his offense in the amount of $557,451.63. The Court also found that HARMON had obstructed justice by testifying falsely at trial about his statements to investors - conduct which resulted in an increase in his sentence.
According to the court records, from approximately 1994 through 1997, HARMON controlled and operated Harley L. Harmon Mortgage Company, which loaned money to Las Vegas-area real estate developers. Harley L. Harmon Mortgage Company funded the loans with monies from private investors. Advertisements were placed in the local newspapers, and investors were told that their monies would be invested and placed in first deeds of trust, and used in specific projects. The evidence at trial proved that HARMON intentionally placed their investment funds in second and fourth deeds of trust, and diverted their funds to real estate projects other than those in which HARMON told them they had invested. In 1997, the State of Nevada Financial Institutions Division revoked HARMON's mortgage license and the real estate projects were not completed, and investors lost their money. The real estate projects used in HARMON's scheme included Heather Ridge, Rosewood, and Greenpoint, all residential developments, and Lake Mead Storage, a boat storage facility.
HARMON, who has been released on bond, must surrender to federal authorities by December 1, 2003, to begin service of his federal prison sentence.
The case was investigated by Special Agents of the FBI and Detectives with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel Schiess, Brian Pugh, and Daniel Hollingsworth.
