Democratic Vegas Politician Robert Telles Sentenced To Life In Prison For Murder Of Journalist Jeff German Who Wrote Negative Stories About Him

Robert Telles, a former Democratic Las Vegas politician, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison for killing a journalist who wrote critically about his office conduct.

The Nevada jury deliberated for 12 hours over three days and came to their decision on Wednesday. The 47-year-old ex-politician has been in jail since Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German was found stabbed to death in 2022.

Outside the courtroom, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said German “had a stellar reputation in this community” and called it “a crying shame, literally and figuratively, that he’s no longer with us.”

Telles lost his primary for a second elected term after German’s stories described hostility and bullying between Telles and an employee at the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian office.

While testifying as a character witness, Telles’ wife, Mary Ann Ismael, described her husband as a “great” provider during their marriage for their “blended” family of her son, his daughter and their daughter.

In his closing arguments, prosecutor Christopher Hamner told jurors that finding Telles guilty would be like “connecting the dots” based on the evidence presented during the trial, which included DNA that matched Telles found beneath the journalist’s fingertips.

The jury ruled that Telles would be eligible for parole after 20 years.

German spent 44 years covering crime and corruption in Las Vegas. He was the only journalist killed in the United States in 2022.