The Nevada Sagebrush

Download .PDF of the condensed complaints

In one of the first PowerPoint slides shown in Thursday’s evidentiary hearing concerning alleged public corruption at the University of Nevada, Reno, the three complainants juxtaposed a picture of UNR president Milton Glick with famed gangster Al Capone.

The three former and current UNR employees — former soccer coach Terri A. Patraw, former UNR police sergeant Lane J. Grow and geological sciences professor Richard A. Schweickert – claim the crimes committed by UNR officials are enough to warrant a grand jury investigation into widespread corruption at the university.

“This seems like a harsh juxtaposition, the picture of Al Capone and the cartoon of gangsters beneath, juxtaposed with a benevolent looking man (Glick),” Schweickert said in court Thursday.

But in their 750-plus page criminal complaint, the three claim Glick and other officials at UNR are defrauding tax payers of millions of dollars and punishing or intimidating those who try to bring the corruption to light. They say the corruption is so widespread it constitutes organized crime and should be pursued as such.

Washoe District Court Judge Connie J. Steinheimer is presiding over the evidentiary hearing to determine if a grand jury needs to be summoned. None of the claims have been proven. The hearing is set to finish Friday.

While the three make their case, the university and its representatives are forbidden to respond. Representatives from several law firms representing UNR, including Nevada System of Higher Education general counsel, watched the proceedings. The representatives either declined to comment or left before comment could be sought.

The three complainants each are involved in multiple civil lawsuits against the university. Grow and Patraw’s testimonies in Thursday’s hearing largely repeated the complaints in their suits. Grow claims the university police leadership rewards or covers-up drinking on the job.

In spring 2007, Grow filed his first lawsuit in which he alleged favoritism, sexism, ageism and an opposition to drunk driving arrests from the entire upper-echelon of the UNR police department.

In Thursday’s hearing, he recalled a case from 2007 where then-UNR police lieutenant Kevin Youngflesh, reportedly while drunk, asked an on-duty UNR officer for a ride home from Sparks for himself and three others. The officer obliged and upon reaching their destination, Youngflesh reportedly complained about Grow’s earlier lawsuit and said he wanted Grow fired.

Youngflesh then reportedly threatened to stab the officer in the heart if he reported the incident. Youngflesh was later fired and then forced by a state hearing officer to be reappointed. He is no longer with UNRPD.

It was Youngflesh’s second drinking-related offense, the first being drunk driving in a state vehicle. For that offense, he was demoted to officer. He was promoted to lieutenant two years later.

Patraw claimed widespread cover-up in the athletics department after she filed multiple NCAA complaints against several Wolf Pack teams.

The three complainants also called fired professor Hussein S. Hussein as a witness and retreaded much of what is in his 11 lawsuits. Hussein testified he has documented evidence of upward of $3 million being embezzled or otherwise misappropriated through a former College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources colleague’s private company.

Multiple times in the hearing, the judge reminded the complainants to only testify what they have evidence or first-hand knowledge of and not to delve into speculation or baseless allegations.

The hearing is set to finish Friday and the judge should make her decision on summoning a grand jury shortly after.

Nick Coltrain can be reached at ncoltrain@nevadasagebrush.com.

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