Former Politico Gets Extended Sentence In Journalist's Murder

Robert Telles and Jeff German

A district judge extended the sentence for a former county official convicted of murdering a longtime Las Vegas journalist, ruling on Wednesday that he will have to spend at least 28 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.

The journalist, Jeff German, had taken on mob bosses and casino titans during his four decades as a reporter. But it was a series of articles focused on an obscure county office and its leader, Robert Telles, that ultimately served as the motive for his murder in September 2022, prosecutors argued at trial.

A Clark County jury convicted Telles of first-degree murder in August, and he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years. On Wednesday, Judge Michelle Leavitt, who has discretion under Nevada law to consider enhancements, added eight years to that minimum sentence because the murder involved a deadly weapon and a victim who was 60 years or older.

German’s killing had raised concerns about press freedom, in particular the safety of reporters covering their own communities.

In May 2022, German wrote an article for The Las Vegas Review-Journal describing employees’ complaints that Telles, who ran a county office that handles the estates of people who die without apparent heirs, had created a toxic work environment and had an improper relationship with a staff member.

Telles denied the allegations, and lost his re-election bid a month after the article was published. Months later, as he continued reporting on Telles, Mr. German was stabbed to death outside his home.