Former Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo is expected to face a jury trial in May after pleading not guilty on Monday to accusations that he choked his wife at their Pahrump home last spring.
If convicted, Blundo faces one to five years in prison.
Blundo was charged with felony domestic battery in July 2022 nearly four months after his wife reportedly told deputies that he had violently strangled her in March shortly after discovering more than $77,000 in cash and a gun was missing from their home.
Audio recordings of deputy interviews with Blundo’s wife were leaked online last year in which the woman claimed the commissioner had secretly recorded her naked without her consent. Blundo’s wife told deputies the former commissioner had also posted pictures of her to online dating sites to attract sexual partners. In another 911 call, she told dispatchers that her husband had possessed roughly 84 grams of cocaine.
Blundo lost his Republican primary bid for re-election in 2022 amid those allegations that have lingered in litigation for more than 10 months.
Esmeralda District Attorney Robert Glennen, of Goldfield, was reportedly forced to refile the case against Blundo after saying last November the case against him had been hampered.
“We had troubles subpeonaing witnesses,” Glennen said at court proceedings in Pahrump last fall, noting that Blundo’s wife and two Nye County Sheriff’s deputies had failed to provide testimony and statements in the case.
Glennen was appointed special prosecutor over Blundo’s case last summer after the Nye County District Attorney’s and the Nevada Attorney’s General offices both declined to investigate, citing a conflict of interest.
A special judge from Lake Tahoe is expected to preside over Blundo’s jury trial beginning on May 17.
Blundo left the Nye County Board of Commissioners in January after serving his District 4 constituents for the past four years.
In a post-exit interview with the Pahrump Valley Times last month, the one-term politician said he would continue to advocate for the community.
“I plan to focus on my family, my business and doing exactly what I have done for the last four years, helping anyone who asks,” he said.
Blundo also did not rule out another bid for public office.
“I am grateful and humbled by the support so many continue to show,” he said.
Contact Editor Brent Schanding at bschanding@pvtimes.com