Las Vegas man avoids prison after soliciting cop in murder-for-hire plot

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man who paid an undercover police officer to kill a man he suspected was having an affair with his wife will avoid prison after a judge sentenced him to probation, records said.

As the 8 News Now Investigators first reported, Mario Valdez, 46, was charged last summer with solicitation to commit murder and solicitation to commit kidnapping or arson. Valdez later agreed to plead guilty to the charge of solicitation to commit murder.

As part of that deal, prosecutors agreed not to argue for a specific sentence. However, Clark County District Court Judge Susan Johnson could have sentenced Valdez to a minimum of two years and a maximum of 15 years in prison. In court Tuesday, Johnson sentenced Valdez to five years of probation with the stipulation he abide by a curfew and abstain from alcohol or marijuana, records said. Should Valdez violate probation, the court will send him to prison for 6-15 years.

During the sentencing, Johnson told Valdez that “probation is a gift” and that should he violate her terms he would go to prison, documents said. In a sentencing memo, Valdez’s attorney noted Valdez and his wife “are actively working on their relationship through couple’s therapy” and that his client had “genuine remorse” for his actions.

Last August, a Metro police detective received information from a confidential informant about a person, later identified as Valdez, who allegedly was offering money for another person to be kidnapped and murdered, documents said.

The confidential informant told the detective Valdez is a local contractor and “wanted [a man] murdered due to an alleged affair between Valdez’s wife and [the man],” documents said. The man’s name is redacted in the documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained last year.

Later on Aug. 16, an undercover officer met with Valdez and offered to kill the man for a fee, documents said.

“Valdez explained he wanted the victim interrogated and killed due to an affair he had with his wife,” police said. “Valdez gave instructions that during the interrogation, he would like the victim to answer questions related to a chain/piece of jewelry, what his plans were with an associate named [redacted], and if he had sex with his wife.”

Valdez agreed to pay the undercover officer $4,000 in cash and then an additional $2,000 at a later date, police said. Valdez then allegedly texted the undercover agent a picture of his target.
Valdez also texted the undercover officer and asked for a meeting, documents said. Valdez once again showed the undercover officer a photo of the intended target and gave him $1,000, police said.

Valdez later told the undercover officer he wanted a second man murdered and he wanted “the homicide to look like a robbery gone wrong,” police said. There was no indication in police documents as to why Valdez wanted the second man murdered.

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