Las Vegas man pleads guilty to elder abuse in group home scheme

A 58-year-old man pleaded guilty to elder abuse on Tuesday for operating an unlicensed group home where about eight tenants lived without heating.

Calvin Leslie agreed to a sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to abuse of an older or vulnerable person, neglect of an older or vulnerable person, exploitation of an older or vulnerable person, and obtaining and using another’s personal identifying information. A judge will have to approve of the sentencing agreement during a hearing scheduled for October.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Colleen Baharav said that “justice was served” through the plea deal.

“I think it’s a fair deal for everybody,” she said.

Travis Shetler, Leslie’s defense attorney, did not respond to request for comment on Wednesday.

Leslie was arrested in December 2019 in connection with the unlicensed group home on Santa Rita Drive, near Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Louis Avenue, court records show. About a month prior, Leslie was arrested in connection with another group home, at 3105 Parkdale Ave., which authorities alleged was run by Leslie and a married couple, Mary Glenn and Devon Floyd.

The home on Parkdale Avenue lacked air conditioning, had overcrowded rooms and contained a restroom without a working toilet. Mentally or physically ill tenants were left to care for themselves, according to an arrest report.

Officers found a man sleeping in his feces, another tenant had his diaper changed once a day, and multiple residents had gone without food and medication, prosecutors said during a court hearing last year.

As part of Tuesday’s plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against Leslie in the Parkdale home case.

Glenn and Floyd both pleaded guilty and were sentenced in August for abuse and neglect of older and vulnerable people. Glenn was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison, and Floyd was sentenced to two to five years but was eligible for parole because of time served.

Prosecutors have said that after Leslie was released on bail in connection with that case, he continued to operate the group home on Santa Rita Drive, renting rooms to tenants and putting bills in their names without their knowledge.

Power at the home was shut off in early December 2019, when overnight temperatures dropped to 43 degrees, which is considered unsafe according to city code. The residents of the home “appeared to suffer from mental and physical disabilities,” according to an arrest report.

One victim said Leslie took rent money from vulnerable tenants and then evicted them without cause, a process he described as “flipping them,” the report said.

Leslie was initially charged with 10 counts including exploitation, abuse, neglect and obtaining and using another’s personal identity information. In February 2020, a grand jury indicted him on 14 additional counts, court records show.

He was accused of putting bills in the name of a man with dementia and taking nearly $3,000 of Social Security benefits from a 60-year-old woman, according to the indictment.

Leslie has been arrested on similar charges in Georgia, Ohio and Michigan, prosecutors have said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.