Probe to Focus on how Felon Became Notary, Process Server

Vilisia Coleman is a felon, but that didn't stop the second suspect arrested in a growing Clark County court scandal from becoming a state-approved notary public and unlicensed process server.

State regulators are investigating how Coleman slipped under the radar.

Coleman, 46, who police say was a process server and office manager for On Scene Mediations, the unlicensed company at the center of the scandal, was sentenced to three years of probation for felony cocaine possession in 2006 and ordered to undergo drug treatment, records show.

She also has a gross misdemeanor conviction for attempted grand larceny at a local Walmart in 2001, records show.

In that case, she was charged with violating her two-year probation in 2003 and ordered to spend eight months behind bars at the Clark County Detention Center.

Coleman, back in custody Tuesday, is now charged in what authorities call a sweeping scheme to file false court affidavits that allowed payday loan and debt collection companies to get default judgments in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Also charged is Maurice Carroll, 41, a former Las Vegas police officer who owns On Scene Mediations. He is free on $35,000 bond.

Because of her criminal history, Coleman by law cannot receive a notary appointment from the state or be a licensed process server.

But Secretary of State Ross Miller said Coleman obtained a notary appointment from his office in June 2009. When she applied to become a notary, she filled out a form that asked if she had ever been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. She checked the "No" box, said Miller, who has ordered an investigation.

He would not discuss his investigation further but said state agents have spoken with Las Vegas police, who are spearheading the criminal investigation.

Miller said that in November 2009, several months after Coleman received her notary appointment, she reported to Las Vegas police that her notary stamp had been stolen. He said Coleman got a new stamp from his office in January, and the old stamp never surfaced.

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Arrest Warrant Issued for Process Server

LAS VEGAS -- An arrest warrant has been issued for a process server accused of falsifying paperwork in dozens of cases and potentially hundreds more, in what police called a scheme to defraud the courts.

Former Las Vegas Metro police officer Maurice Carroll is wanted by police for 35 counts of perjury, false filing of paperwork and obtaining money under false pretenses. Metro says he said he served people with legal papers, but didn't.

Carroll runs On Scene Mediations out of a North Las Vegas home. The criminal complaint said he admitted to officers he lied on affidavits and falsified work. That has caused problems in an unknown number of cases at the Regional Justice Center and potentially in District Court.

Defendants lost cases because they had not been notified could try to overturn judgments.

One of those already going through that trouble is Alan Wood. He's racked up $20,000 fighting what amounted to be a $700 charge for a medical bill. All it seems because of improper paperwork.

The fallout even reached his work. "My payroll department called me one day and said, 'Hey, you know, we just got a judgment and a garnishment against you,' and I said, 'That's impossible. I've never been to court,'" he said.

These mistakes can continue until keen-eyed workers at the court sort through the hundreds of old and pending cases trying to see if Carroll's firm had anything to do with them.

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Process Server was Cited by State Investigators

State investigators in 2003 cited former Las Vegas police officer Maurice Carroll for operating as a process server without a license, but he did not appear on their radar again until a couple of months ago, when justices of the peace complained about his activities.

Las Vegas police are now investigating allegations that Carroll's latest process serving company, On Scene Mediations, submitted false affidavits in justice courts around the valley, potentially disrupting the lives and finances of thousands of civil case defendants.

On Scene Mediations is alleged to have filed affidavits swearing that it served defendants with copies of lawsuits, but in many cases the lawsuits were not served, police said. That resulted in judgments of default against some defendants because they failed to respond to the lawsuits in a timely manner.

The company's clients include widely known payday loan and debt collecting firms.

Police suspect that Carroll, 42, who left the police department in 2000 after roughly 10 years on the job, has been an unlicensed process server since 2003, but they said they have yet to substantiate their suspicions.

Mechele Ray, executive director of the Nevada Private Investigators License Board, said agency investigators issued Carroll a $2,500 citation in late 2003 after receiving a complaint that he wasn't licensed. The citation, approved by board members in March 2004, ordered Carroll to stop doing business, she said.

But Ray acknowledged that the agency has no record of any other action against Carroll until the Las Vegas justices of the peace complained about him in May.

The board now has an ongoing investigation of Carroll, she said.

Court officials said they don't know the scope of the problems On Scene Mediations created for Southern Nevada's courts, but police estimated thousands of cases could be affected. Records show that Carroll's company, which was run out of his North Las Vegas home, was doing about $50,000 in business a month, police said.

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Accused Killer, Former Process Server, Attempts Suicide In Jail

LAS VEGAS -- The bizarre saga of Gregory Hover, the former process server accused of killing two people, took another turn Thursday morning when he missed a court appearance following a suicide attempt in jail.

That’s according to a Clark County Court bailiff, who could not confirm Hover’s condition or describe what took place while he was in custody.

Hover, 38, was moved to isolation earlier this month after allegedly stabbing a fellow inmate with a pair of scissors.

Despite repeated inquiries, authorities have not said why he was given access to scissors.
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Process Server Linked to Second Murder Case

LAS VEGAS -- A process server who was arrested in the murder and attempted murder of a Las Vegas couple is now facing more charges.

Police say Gregory Hover will be charged with the kidnapping and murder of 21-year-old Prisma Contreras. Her burned body was found in her Jeep in a desert area near U.S. 95 and the Nelson Landing Road south of Boulder City on Jan. 15th. Contreras had been reported missing the day before. She was a waitress at Hooters Hotel and Casino.

Richard Freeman, who police say is an accomplice, is also facing charges.

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Las Vegas Nevada Process Servers

The ServeNow.com team would like to introduce their latest process server in Las Vegas. Kristopher Nicholson of Legal Express provides service of process throughout the following counties in Nevada:

• Clark County, NV
• Washoe County, NV
• Carson City County, NV

Visit their ServeNow.com profile page for more info: Legal Express

Las Vegas Nevada Process Server

The ServeNow.com team would like to introduce their latest process server in Nevada.

Roy McMahan of Legal Process Service provides the following services throughout Clark County, NV and Washoe County, NV (statewide service throughout Nevada is also available). Roy provides the following services:

• Service of Process
• Skip Tracing
• Due Diligence
• Small Claims
• New Action Filings & Service
• Garnishments
• Record Searches
• Document Retrievals
• Property Liens
• Document Preparation & filing
• Court Runner Service

Visit their ServeNow.com profile page for more info: Legal Process Service