AARON SCHULTZ /SPECIAL TO THE PVT Former Nye County Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos and his public defender, Tom Gibson, listen to Judge Robert Lane during sentencing Monday. Advertisement

Fifth District Judge Robert Lane Monday sentenced former Nye County Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos to five years probation on his felony bribery conviction, to run concurrently with three-year probation terms for two related misdemeanors.

He was also given 500 hours of community service and told to attend an ethics class, but a 60-day jail sentence was stayed pending an appeal.

On July 1, Liakopoulos was convicted of making an offer to former Pahrump Town Board Chairman Laurayne Murray to vote for a county half-cent sales tax increase back in 2007 if the Pahrump town board would appoint his wife, Jenny Liakopoulos, as curator of a veteran's museum.

Liakopoulos' wife wasn't given the position in October 2007, and Liakopolous voted against the sales tax proposal two months later.

The sentence mirrors the recommendations of a pre-sentence investigation conducted by the Nevada Department of Probation and Parole. The only state recommendation Lane wouldn't adopt was to prohibit Liakopoulos from running for elected office again. He said that it might be unconstitutional.

Two misdemeanor counts of offering a reward for an appointment and grafting by a public official were attached to the felony bribery count.

Lane denied a motion by public defender Tom Gibson to merge one of the misdemeanor counts with the felony count, but he did grant Gibson's motion to let the sentences run concurrently.

The judge issued a suspended sentence of 12 to 32 months in prison for the bribery conviction and 12 months in jail for each of the misdemeanor counts.

When nearly all his arguments were rejected, Gibson asked if Liakopoulos could serve his 60-day jail sentence in blocks, for example on weekends, so he could work. That too was denied.

"There are people in the community who would say put him in prison. Then there are others who would say look at the mitigation and aggravating factors," Lane said. "The sticking point in this case was the impulse reaction. I don't believe there's any deterrence in sentencing you to jail. I don't believe you're going to do it again."

The judge said, however, there could be a general deterrence to any elected officials thinking of doing a similar act.

"The main point with this case, it was not an act of impulse," Lane said. "This persisted over months. You had lots of times to contemplate the action, the morality of that, and you proceeded with it."

Gibson tried to delay the sentencing while Liakopoulos changed attorneys. Gibson said his client didn't like his representation and now had a job paying $4,000 per month. Liakopoulos didn't want to comment pending appeal but inquired where Gibson got that information about his salary.

Gibson said Liakopoulos didn't have a previous record and voluntarily stepped down from his position.

"This is the case they pick to use to set an example to point out they're not going to put up with any corruption," Gibson said. "If what my client did was wrong, then you got a lot of legislators and lobbyists in Carson City who are doing the same thing. When was the last time a person was prosecuted for trying to get a non-paying job for his wife? Only one person applied for the job."

Gibson argued the state already received what it wanted: It got rid of a politican and "humiliated a good man."

He added Liakopoulos will also suffer the loss of his civil privileges, like his right to vote and his right to own firearms.

Gibson also charged selective prosecution, asking why Murray wasn't charged.

Conrad Hafen, the prosecutor for the Nevada Attorney General's Office, said, "The defendant was the one who went to Laurayne Murray not once, not twice, but three separate times."

When that didn't work, he said, Liakopoulos asked former Pahrump Town Manager Dave Richards to convey a message to her, to convince the town board to vote his way.

"There was no evidence that she went to him first. He did all the talking," Hafen said.

After Hafen said the defense attorney made light of the fact his client committed bribery, he asked Lane: "What about public trust? What about when we took the oath -- the same oath you took as a judge?"

The public believed when Liakopoulos received its vote, he would uphold his trust and uphold the law, he said.

"When we start mitigating the offenses committed by a public official, we're committing ourselves to bad government," Hafen said.

Lane said it was not as much the fact Liakopoulos was trying to get his wife a job -- the judge quipped he's been trying to get his wife a job for years -- it was the way he did it.

While Gibson argued it was a common quid pro quo in politics to swap support for legislation, Lane said, "If there's evidence of other commissioners asking bribes, or senators, bring it in front of me. I'd be glad to hear it."

Hafen said Gibson's arguments over selective prosecution only relate to a person prosecuted because of race, gender, religion or national origin.

Hafen said the sentencing had been delayed while Liakopoulos sought to make arrangements for his probation to be transferred to Oregon.

When asked outside the court room if he thought Liakopoulos' jail sentence for the crime was excessive, Hafen said: "For me this case was summed up in the testimony of Dave Richards. At one point he testified about having lunch with the defendant and (Liakopoulos said) if Laurayne Murray didn't follow through on her vote, all hell was going to rain down on Pahrump.

"This clearly indicates the defendant's arrogance and willingness to violate the laws of this state, and it clearly shows he has his own interest at heart and not the citizens' he was elected to serve."