Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
Deon Derrico leaves North Las Vegas Justice Court after a preliminary hearing Wednesday, April 2, 2014.
Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018 | 2 a.m.
For four years, a real-estate fraud case against a Las Vegas father of 11 — counting quintuplets — weighed heavily on him and his sizable family.
But that burden this year was lifted when the case against Deon Derrico, 48, who was charged with 16 counts, including 10 felonies, was tossed out of Clark County District Court.
“It was a feeling out of this world,” said Derrico about the moment in late August when his name was cleared. “I feel vindicated, but still wronged; feel wronged for the right reasons.”
Leading up to the birth of their quintuplets in 2013, Evonne and Deon Derrico — who already had three youngsters — gained prominence, appearing in national morning news shows.
The following year, however, Deon Derrico was in the spotlight for other reasons, being accused of real-estate fraud.
An investor, Derrico would take over properties that were upside-down during the recession through quitclaim deeds in which the embattled owners would sign over their homes, said his attorney, Dustin Marcello.
Derrico would pay back fees to homeowner associations and negotiate with the banks in the hopes of catching up on payments and subsequently short sell or rent the properties, Marcello said.
Two homeowners accused Derrico and his business partner, Olujuwon Devin Bryant, who notarized the deeds, of forging signatures on them, authorities said at the time, noting they were searching for additional possible victims.
Yet, in the four-year legal process, no one else came forward, and the case fizzled out. A jury wasn’t convinced either and in April found Derrico not guilty of most of the charges, deadlocking on two counts, Marcello said.
State officials refiled the pair of charges but dismissed the case as an Aug. 27 trial approached, court documents show.
Bryant, who had been charged alongside Derrico, earlier this year pleaded guilty to attempt to commit false representation on a title, a gross misdemeanor, and was fined, according to court documents.
“Given the outcome of the previous trial which resulted in a hung jury, and given that the co-defendant has already taken responsibility for these criminal acts, prosecutors from our office have determined that dismissing the remaining counts best serves the interests of justice in this case,” the Attorney General’s Office wrote in a statement.
Derrico believes he was attacked because of his family’s notoriety, and “that disturbs me,” he said, noting he wears many hats: “husband, father, businessman and son.”
Derrico’s wife last year gave birth to twins, making Derrico an 11-time father. He became worried about his children, who were now old enough to read negative newspaper accounts about him.
“Prior to this being my life, I would have been quick to judge,” he said about learning of allegations from someone else. But now he’s established a “totally different context of reality.”
“You can be totally innocent, (but) can be made to look like something else,” said Derrico, who’s in the midst of writing a book.
The episode left him angry at the legal system that would “allow this kind of misfortune against a family,” but also inspired him to become an advocate for those wrongly accused, he said.
“I was happy for him and his family,” Marcello said. “I think he had a lot of emotion invested in it and took it very seriously — took it rather well,” he added, noting he’s pleased to see them “move on with their lives.”
