Wednesday, May 26, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.
A Metro Police officer who resigned after being accused of using his badge to coerce sex from prostitutes two years ago will accept a plea bargain instead of going to trial next week on charges that could have put him behind bars for life.
Arthur Lee Sewall's trial had been scheduled for next Tuesday on two counts of first-degree kidnapping, three counts of sexual assault and three counts of oppression under the color of office.
Sewall, 32, still will appear before District Judge Jeffrey Sobel, only instead of facing trial he is expected to enter guilty pleas to two counts of felony oppression under the color of office. He faces one-to-four years on each count.
Had Sewall been convicted of the eight felony counts, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Sewall was arrested following a Feb. 8, 1997, Metro Police sting operation that led to his resignation from the force.
Two women, one 36 and the other 24, told similar stories of separate incidents, accusing Sewall, who was on duty and in uniform, of threatening to arrest them if they did not have sex with him.
Sewall was caught on videotape by undercover officers in the Del Mar Motel on Las Vegas Boulevard South after Internal Affairs and vice detectives set up a sting operation involving one of the women.
Sewall, who resigned from the force in March 1997, initially pleaded innocent to the charges and in January 1998 was offered the same plea bargain that now is on the table.
Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon retained the right to argue at the time of sentencing.
In 1997 Justice of the Peace James Bixler, after hearing the testimony of the two prostitutes, determined that there was enough evidence to bind Sewall over for trial.
archive
