GOP adviser likely to face charges in slave case
Prosecutors are expected to file a criminal complaint Monday against a Las Vegas political adviser accused of sexually enslaving and battering his then-fiancée, a spokeswoman for the Clark County district attorney’s office said.
The spokeswoman, Audrie Locke, said prosecutors have been reviewing the case against Benjamin Sparks, who most recently worked on Nevada Republican Cresent Hardy’s campaign to win back the 4th Congressional District seat Hardy held from 2015 to 2017.
According to a Las Vegas police report regarding a March 29 occurrence, there is “probable cause to arrest Sparks for domestic battery.” That involved a dispute at the Las Vegas home he shared with his fiancee.
Locke said it is unclear how many charges Sparks, 35, will face.
“Sometimes they may file more charges,” she said.
According to the police report, Sparks and his fiancée argued over his cocaine use and other “relationship issues.” It led to Sparks physically blocking the door for two hours, the report said.
During the dispute, the victim suffered injuries to her thumb and lost a fingernail, the report said.
According to emails, documents and text messages obtained by the Las Vegas Review-journal, Sparks previously had his fiancée sign a
SPARKS
her case and obtained a stay from a judge as the bus was just miles short of the border.
She was being held at Eloy Detention Center after stops at centers in Las Vegas, Denver, El Paso, Texas and Nogales, Arizona.
In a statement, Barrera said Gomez was on supervised release.
“This means she will have to attend occasional check-ins at the ICE office and comply with any other terms they set for release, but she will get to be home with her family while her immigration case is pending,” Barrera said.
Barrera and advocates for undocumented immigrants said at a Thursday news conference that Gomez never received the deportation order because she was a victim of “notario fraud.”
The term refers to an increasingly common crime in which undocumented immigrants are duped by people who pretend to have legal expertise or a position of authority.
Friday night calls to Barrera and Bliss Requa-trautz, a local advo- cate for undocumented immigrants and director of the Las Vegas Workers Center, were not immediately returned.
A news conference with Gomez’s family and several advocacy groups is scheduled for Monday.
Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.