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FORMER DETECTIVE SENTENCED TO PRISON Brandon Receives 2-10 Years for Robbery at Henderson Restaurant By Glenn Puitt, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 11-14-02, P. B1 A weeping Jack Brandon was led out of courtin handcuffs and sent to prison Wednesday, completing the fall of a Las Vegas police detective turned robber. "I'm embarrassed," Brandon told District Judge Donald Mosley during his sentencing hearing on charges he robbed two United Coin employees in February. "I'm very embarrassed (for the Metropolitan) Police Department," he said. "My name is a black mark." Brandon and his attorney asked for probation, but Mosley sent Brandon to prison for 2 to 10 years saying "Mr. Brandon was out of control" at the time of the crime. In a case that Mosely himself described as a tragedy, Brandon was portrayed during his August trial as a good cop and single father whose gambling problem caused him to carry out the robbery. "A career has been destroyed, a family has been destroyed... all because of, in my judgment, a gambling situation," Mosley said. Brandon, who had been with the police department for 14 years, was an investigator of property crimes at the time of his apprehension for the holdup. After his conviction on two charges of robbery and a single count of burglary, he was fired. According to police, Brandon held up the United Coin employees at Rae's Restaurant and Lounge at 2531 Wigwam Parkway in Henderson. They said Brandon was down on his luck and out of money when he pepper-sprayed the men and robbed them of about $16,000. Authorities said the crime unfolded in an establishment where Brandon was known as a regular video poker player. Prosecutors said the jury in Brandon's case was presented at trial with an overwhelming amount of evidence linking him to the crime. For example, months before the holdup, Brandon's Police Department colleagues became suspicious because of large amounts of money going through his personal bank account. Police attached a global tracking device to Brandon's car: The device placed his police vehicle in Rae's parking lot at the time of the crime. An employee of Rae's also witnessed the Robbery and chased the assailant into the parking lot. The employee took down the license plate number of the robber, which came back to Brandon's police vehicle. Authorities said Brandon had wrapped his head in bandages when he carried out the crime. The disguise was similar to one used by a man convicted of a 1997 heist of the Tropicana. Brandon investigated that crime involving the so-called "Band-Aid bandit." Yet despite all this evidence, Brandon told the judge Wednesday he was not guilty. "I didn't commit this crime," Brandon said. "If I did, I would have pleaded guilty and sought a deal." The father of two, whose fiancee also has two children whom Brandon has helped raise, asked the judge for leniency. He said he is seeking help for his gambling problem. More important, he said, his children will be without a father if he goes to prison. "Don't take me away from my family," Brandon said. "My family's everything to me. Without them, I'm nothing." But Mosley questioned Brandon's request for probation even though he maintained his innocence. While Brandon was entitled to do this, Mosley said, granting Brandon's request wouldn't serve the purpose of probation. "You can't have it both ways," the judge said. "If you can't acknowledge the problem, what are we out to rehabilitate?" Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli prosecuted the case with prosecutor Robert Daskas. Lalli urged Mosley to send Brandon to prison in large part because he had demonstrated no remorse since his conviction. "My life is now screwed," Lalli quoted Brandon as saying in pre-sentencing court documents. "I'm embarrassed to go out. This arrest has ruined my life." Lalli concluded, "It's all about the defendant." Defense attorney Stephen Stein asked for probation, saying Brandon's claims of innocence should not be held against him. "It is a constitutional right that is sacred to our system," Stein said. After Mosley handed out the sentence, Brandon was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom. Brandon wanted to say goodbye to a large group of loved ones in the room but was not allowed to do so. Outside court, Lalli said he was not shocked by Brandon's claims of innocence. "There are not a lot of cases with this much evidence of guilt," Lalli said, adding that he believed Brandon "has simply convinced himself he's not guilty." "You see it a lot with people who have addictions," Lalli said. WORKING TOGETHER TO ATTAIN FAIRNESS | |
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