Lawyer at center of HOA probe indicted on drug charge

Nancy Quon, a high-profile Las Vegas attorney who made millions as a pioneer in the field of construction defect law, was indicted Wednesday on a felony drug charge in connection with allegations of a suicide scheme.

Quon, 51, who is at the center of a separate federal investigation into corruption and fraud within homeowners associations, was charged with conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The charge draws a maximum five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The Clark County grand jury indictment alleges Quon provided the cash to her live-in boyfriend, former Las Vegas police officer William Ronald Webb, and his friend, two-time convicted felon Robert Justice, to purchase the drugs from undercover detectives in November.

Webb and Justice were indicted in January in the scheme to obtain 51.4 grams of the club drug gama-hydroxybutyric acid.

The new indictment reduces the amount of GHB the defendants allegedly obtained unlawfully to 29.2 grams.

Webb, 43, faces drug conspiracy charges as well as a charge of conspiring to commit murder. The grand jury on Wednesday added one count each of burglary for Webb and Justice stemming from the undercover sale of the GHB in a 2007 police-owned Cadillac. The charge was added because the defendants entered the police vehicle with the intent to unlawfully possess the GHB.

Police allege that Quon was trying to arrange her own death with drugs that she and Webb incorrectly believed would be undetectable.

Quon has denied trying to kill herself.

The charges are built around the testimony of Justice, 45, who befriended both Webb and an undercover detective. Justice, who has struck a deal to testify for prosecutors, has told police that Quon wanted Webb and her family to collect on her life insurance.

Quon and Webb are set to be arraigned on the charges Tuesday before District Judge Jackie Glass.

Webb is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on $400,000 bail.

An arrest warrant was issued for Quon, but prosecutors stipulated with defense attorney Thomas Pitaro that she has until Monday to surrender for booking, then will be freed on her own recognizance. After her arraignment, Quon would have 24 hours to post $3,000 bail.

Pitaro declined to comment.

Justice, who is free on his own recognizance, will be arraigned separately May 3.

The grand jury also has been investigating Quon and Webb on arson and insurance fraud charges stemming from an Oct. 28 fire at her 73 Dollar Pointe Ave. home. The fire, which police believe was part of a botched suicide attempt by Quon, caused some $250,000 in damage.

One of the witnesses listed as having testified before the grand jury was former Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle, a longtime friend of Quon's. Oesterle did not seek re-election last year.

Two days before the fire, Quon was described as "detached and despondent" in a meeting with local and federal investigators probing the homeowners associations.

Police said in November that Quon's indictment in the federal HOA case was "imminent," but federal charges have yet to be filed.

The Review-Journal has reported that Justice Department prosecutors from Washington, D.C., have taken over the case and also are investigating possible leaks from the local U.S. attorney's office that could have allowed Quon to alter or destroy evidence.

Federal prosecutors are now said to be working out plea deals with as many as 30 HOA investigation targets in an effort to obtain indictments against Quon and others.

Review-Journal reporter Francis McCabe contributed to this report. Contact Jeff German at jgerman@review journal.com or 702-380-8135.