Las Vegas Grand Jury Indicts Nevada Guardian April Parks on More Than 200 Charges, Including Racketeering, Theft, and Exploitation

by Colton Lochhead
A grand jury indicted a for-profit guardian Wednesday on more than 200 charges that include racketeering, theft and exploitation, in a case that spans more than 150 victims.

April Parks faces 212 felony charges. They include: one count of racketeering, 42 counts of theft, 37 counts of exploitation of an older person or vulnerable person, 74 counts offering a false instrument for filing of record and 58 counts of perjury.

Judge Jennifer Togliatti issued a no-bail arrest warrant for Parks and her business partner, Mark Simmons. Simmons is charged with 134 felonies.

April Parks

Parks was one of the most active private professional guardians in Southern Nevada. She often acted as the surrogate decision maker for 50 to 100 elderly and infirm people, called wards, at a given time. As the guardian, Parks had full control of the wards’ finances, estates and even medical decisions.

Last year, she left Nevada, leaving dozens of wards behind and forcing the already overburdened Clark County Public Guardian’s office to step in to care for them.

Guardianship Judge Cynthia Dianne Steele issued a separate bench warrant for Parks’ arrest last summer after Parks failed twice to appear in court for one of the cases she abandoned.

Attorneys claimed Parks grossly overbilled her wards and called for a law enforcement investigation of her practices.

“This indictment should send a message to court-appointed guardians throughout the state that law enforcement is committed to aggressively protecting our elderly and vulnerable populations,” Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt said in a statement.

Laxalt and Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson both attended the indictment hearing.

Parks’ husband, Gary Neal Taylor, faces seven charges and Parks’ former attorney, Noel Palmer Simpson, was charged with one count each of theft and filing a false document.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Source:
Las Vegas Grand Jury Indicts Nevada Guardian on More Than 200 Charges, Including Racketeering, Theft, and Exploitation