Las Vegas police search Robert Telles, realtors as part of pre-murder bribery investigation
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Metro police wanted devices and contracts from former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles and at least three realtors as part of an investigation into an alleged bribery scheme, which started weeks before the ex-politician’s arrest for murder, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.
Metro police arrested Telles, 47, in September 2022 for the stabbing death of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German. Prosecutors accuse Telles of targeting German because of articles German was writing about problems in the county’s public administrator’s office, which Telles ran.
German, 69, was found stabbed to death on Sept. 3, 2022, outside his home in the northwest valley near Tenaya Way and Vegas Drive. Detectives said they found Telles’ DNA under German’s fingernails, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported shortly after Telles’ arrest. Telles’ trial was scheduled to begin next week.
Telles, a lawyer elected as a Democrat who then lost his primary after German’s reporting, represented himself in court until recently when he hired private attorney Robert Draskovich.
In documents filed last month, Draskovich and prosecutors said Metro police were tracking Telles’ cellphone as part of an investigation into a bribery scheme. However, prosecutors said Telles’ phone was not at the murder scene.
Through a public records request, Metro provided the 8 News Now Investigators with 33 pages of documents regarding the bribery investigation. The documents include search warrants and property reports, listing what officers seized.
One search warrant asks for property and communication between the public administrator’s office, Telles, and three realtors whose names are redacted in the documents Metro provided. The realtors “may have sold residences on behalf” of the public administrator’s office, documents said.
Documents indicate police were looking for evidence regarding the crimes of asking or receiving a bribe by a public officer, bribery of a public officer, misconduct of a public officer and theft, documents said.
Telles was not charged with a crime, nor was anyone associated with the bribery investigation, as of Monday. Sources told the 8 News Now Investigators that there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
The paperwork indicates police seized phones and other electronics from at least two people as part of the bribery investigation. Police working the bribery case also reviewed Telles’ phone, which at that point, was already in Metro’s custody.
The allegations involve at least 25 properties throughout Clark County, documents said. While the documents indicate the investigation began in August, before German’s murder, it appears the seizures and searches happened after Telles’ arrest.
Police arrested Telles on Sept. 7, 2022. One return document indicates police seized “miscellaneous documents and binders” from a home that October, though the location was not provided.
Last month, Draskovich added the ongoing bribery investigation before his client’s arrest for murder could be helpful in his defense.
“Obviously if he’s being surveilled, we should know his whereabouts,” Draskovich said. Prosecutors said Telles’ phone was not “in the area of German’s house at the time of the homicide.” The logs ended after Telles’ arrest, Draskovich said.
During an interview with 8 News Now Investigator Vanessa Murphy in 2023, Telles said he was framed. During an interview with 8 News Now Investigator David Charns in September 2022, Telles refused to discuss German’s death.
In court last week, prosecutors said 5,000 electronic files contained on German’s phone were “potentially privileged,” likely leading to a delay in Telles’ trial, which was scheduled to begin March 18.
Prosecutors said they are aware of not one, but two audio recordings on German’s phone from “unknown individuals” making “death threats” to him, documents filed last week said.
A judge will weigh prosecutors’ request to delay the trial on Tuesday.
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