Wednesday, June 2, 1999 | 10:38 a.m.
A former Metro Police officer who used the power of his badge to coerce sex from two cocaine-addicted prostitutes has pleaded guilty to two counts of oppression under the color of office.
Arthur Lee Sewall will face the possibility of a three- to eight-year prison term when he is sentenced Aug. 10 by District Judge Jeff Sobel, although probation is also a possibility.
Sewall, 32, had been scheduled to stand trial Tuesday on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault -- which carry life prison terms -- in addition to the oppression counts.
Sewall, who is free on bond, admitted in court Tuesday that he had agreed not to arrest the two admitted prostitutes if they performed sexual favors.
Sewall was arrested following a Feb. 8, 1997, Metro sting operation that ultimately led to his resignation from the force in March 1997 after charges were formally filed.
Two women, one of whom was 36 at the time and the other who was 24, came forward and told similar stories of separate incidents, accusing Sewall, who was on duty and in uniform, of threatening to arrest them if they did not perform sexual acts.
Sewall's actions were caught on videotape by undercover officers in the Del Mar Motel on Las Vegas Boulevard South after Internal Affairs and vice detectives set up the sting operation involving one of the women.
In Tuesday's plea bargain, Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon retained the right to argue for a stiff penalty at the time of sentencing.
Evidence at a 1997 preliminary hearing included an explicit videotape of Sewall agreeing with the 36-year-old woman to exchange the hooker's freedom on a drug paraphernalia charge for oral sex.
archive
