News Articles

Trump pardons former Nevada bank robber Jon Ponder

By Debra J. Saunders Las Vegas Review-Journal August 25, 2020 WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a pardon for Jon D. ...
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President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Grant of Clemency (Full Pardon) for Jon Ponder

Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding the Pardon of Jon Ponder  LAW & JUSTICE  Issued on: August 25, 2020 Today, President ...
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Judge begins hearing testimony related to deadly Alpine fire

By Rio Lacanlale Las Vegas Review-JournalAugust 18, 2020 - 1:23 pm The first day of a preliminary hearing in the involuntary manslaughter case ...
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Pardons: Reformed bank robber awaits president’s hinted-at pardon

By Debra J. Saunders Las Vegas Review-Journal July 17, 2020 - 3:00 pm WASHINGTON — In February, when President Donald Trump addressed ...
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Categories

Notorious Pardons Cases

Teen who murdered a Kenmore native in 1998 is up for a pardon. His victim’s loved ones are outraged.

By The Law Offices of Kristina Wildeveld | June 11, 2020

Twenty-one years ago, Salvatore Zendano Jr. went to the aid of a fellow bartender who was pistol-whipped during a holdup in their Las Vegas restaurant when the Kenmore native was shot to death. He was 25. Family and friends still mourn the loss of the fun-loving football and baseball player, goofy karaoke singer and friend…

Legislature to consider changes in sentencing of juveniles

By The Law Offices of Kristina Wildeveld | June 11, 2020

A teen takes a life. The district attorney decides to try him as an adult. A jury finds him guilty. Should he be sent to prison for the rest of his life without a chance for parole or eventually given a second chance?

Sisolak proposes broad pardon for people with low-level marijuana offenses

By The Law Offices of Kristina Wildeveld | June 11, 2020

Gov. Steve Sisolak tested the waters Wednesday on whether members of a state board would issue a blanket pardon for people convicted of marijuana offenses, such as low-level possession, that are now legal. Sisolak brought the idea up at a meeting of the Board of Pardons Commissioners. The panel, which includes the governor and members…

Nevada board pardons Hope for Prisoners founder

By The Law Offices of Kristina Wildeveld | June 11, 2020

Jon Ponder, an ex-convict who now spends his days helping former inmates transition back into civilian life, was granted clemency by the state Pardons Board on Wednesday for past battery convictions. The pardon, which was approved unanimously by the board members present, clears Ponder’s record of the domestic battery crimes he was convicted of in…

Man Declared “Factually Innocent” of Murder is Granted a Full Pardon

By The Law Offices of Kristina Wildeveld | June 11, 2020

A Nevada man who spent 21 years in prison has been pardoned over the objections of Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson. Fred Steese was convicted in 1995 of the 1992 murder of Gerard Soules, a former trapeze artist who performed a poodle act at the Circus Circus Casino in Las Vegas. Steese, who had briefly been…

Accused murder mastermind Frank LaPena granted pardon

By The Law Offices of Kristina Wildeveld | June 11, 2020

A onetime Las Vegas casino bell captain who spent 25 years in prison as the accused mastermind in a notorious 1974 contract murder won his last legal battle for freedom Wednesday when the state Pardons Board granted him a conditional pardon restoring all his civil rights.