Retired Las Vegas sergeant accused of stealing from massage parlors to plead guilty

A retired Metropolitan Police Department sergeant accused of stealing from massage parlors while on duty will plead guilty to charges of attempted theft and oppression, his attorney said Thursday.

Police alleged Sean Lucero made ill-gotten cash deposits that totaled $37,160 and often corresponded to days when he took part in “massage parlor operations” where detectives posed as patrons at parlors suspected of offering prostitution.

After defense attorney Craig Hendricks informed Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Amy Chelini about the plea, she told Lucero that in District Court, he could go forward with the deal or change his mind.

Lucero’s sentence has not been agreed upon; the prosecution and defense will be able to make arguments for what it should be.

Police previously said Lucero “showed a concerted interest in massage parlor operations” and when a detective tried to do other enforcement more frequently, rebuffed the detective’s efforts.

“He would insist on searching areas where there was a higher likelihood of currency being kept and he performed searches even in instances where there was no search warrant being executed,” Metro alleged.

Police said Lucero admitted to detectives that he stole from massage parlors 10 to 12 times.

“This is not who I am,” he said, according to police, adding, “I didn’t come this far in my career to go out this way.”

Lucero’s next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 7.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.