Former judge barred from ever sitting on Nevada bench

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline has banned former Clark County Family Court Judge Steven Jones from ever again serving as a judge in the state.

Jones, who pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, was sentenced in February 2015 to 26 months in prison and ordered to pay $2.9 million in restitution to dozens of victims of an investment scheme.

Prosecutors said investors were tricked with false promises they could buy and sell water rights worth millions as part of a secret government program. Instead, prosecutors said, Jones and others spent the money on gambling and their own living expenses.

Jones is now in a federal prison in Taft, Calif.

The commission branded Jones “a liar, a manipulator and a thief” and said its order “closes a very lengthy and sad chapter in the history of the Nevada judiciary.”

The commission said Jones took advantage of every opportunity to delay its efforts to resolve the allegations of misconduct against him.

It said Jones “repeatedly abused the legal system by filing duplicative litigations in multiple courts” in to delay the commission from acting on the case.

Jones served some 20 years as a judge in Clark County.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.