College official charged

Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.

A series of Las Vegas Sun stories has led to charges of theft and misconduct filed against the construction boss at the College of Southern Nevada.

The Sun printed the stories only after successfully battling the college’s administration, which for months last year stonewalled a request for public documents submitted by Sun reporter Christina Littlefield.

Littlefield also got the run-around when she requested interviews with top college officials. When the college made her submit questions in writing, it did not provide timely responses.

Despite the obstacles, Littlefield persevered and wrote at length about allegations of theft and contract fraud made by current and former campus employees against William “Bob” Gilbert, the college’s construction director. Gilbert denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations were made by disgruntled employees.

The Sun’s dogged reporting was the “primer” for an 18-month criminal investigation by the Nevada attorney general’s office, Chief Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafen said.

A grand jury indictment, returned Friday in District Court, leaves Gilbert facing 13 counts of theft and four counts of misconduct by a public officer. The indictment also charges three people who worked under Gilbert with assisting in the alleged crimes.

An indictment is a formal accusation, not a finding of guilt. Gilbert and the others will have to answer the accusations in court.

The allegations against Gilbert center on a house he was building in northwest Las Vegas. He was accused of using college-owned building materials there and of giving certain college contractors favored status if they would provide labor at the house for free or at a reduced cost.

“Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, it is clear that Mr. Gilbert built his million-dollar house on the backs of Nevada taxpayers,” Hafen told the Sun on Thursday.

The allegations against Gilbert are serious. We are heartened that the attorney general’s office took them more seriously than did the college’s administration.