LAS
VEGAS -- Twenty five people have now
admitted their guilt in a massive political corruption conspiracy
involving a dozen local homeowner associations, but the case is far from
over.
Federal lawmen
say the investigation is ongoing and as many as a dozen additional
targets are in their crosshairs.
It was tough
trying to get a comment out of any of the defendants in the HOA
corruption case. They bolted, dodged, and hid their faces as they
entered and left federal court Thursday.
Defendant Lisa
Kim was far less talkative than she had been inside the courtroom. "You
guys are ridiculous. You should be embarrassed," she said to the
I-Team crew.
Defendant Paul
Citelli found himself bouncing like a ping pong ball between two I-Team
cameras. The HOA mess is not his first trouble with the law. The
FBI thinks he's affiliated with the Buffalo mob. The Review-Journal's
John Smith reported last year that Citelli was part of a huge Mafia
cocaine ring back in the 1980s.
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It's not
surprising that attorney Brian Jones and disbarred lawyer Jeanne Winkler
declined comment since that's what lawyers do, but inside the
courthouse, they -- like the others who appeared -- all told the judge
they were guilty of participating in the conspiracy to take over and
pillage a dozen homeowner associations to the tune of millions of
dollars.
Patrick Bergsrud,
for instance, helped loot the Vistana HOA even after news of the FBI
probe had already broken.
"In 2008,
after the FBI raids, he went to a bank and withdrew the last $450,000,
leaving Vistana with $2,000 out of the $8 million we won, and very
little repair work was done," said Bruce Wallace with the Vistana
HOA.