A Clark County grand jury has indicted a former North Las Vegas police lieutenant, Tim Bedwell, and his wife Michele Bedwell on felony theft charges, accusing the couple of fraudulently converting $60,400 belonging to Lutheran Social Services of Nevada — a frontline Las Vegas Valley charity that helps vulnerable families with food, housing and basic needs — for their own personal gain. The indictments were filed on Friday, November 6, in Clark County, Nevada, according to court records reviewed by The Las Vegas Focal, and FOX5 Las Vegas reported the same indictment from documents it obtained.
Each of the Bedwells faces one count of comprehensive theft involving $25,000 or more but less than $100,000 — a category B felony under Nevada law. The charges are allegations only: no trial has taken place, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
What prosecutors allege happened
Prosecutors allege the two fraudulently converted the $60,400 for unauthorized personal gain over a full calendar year, between January 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025. During that same period, Tim Bedwell was serving as chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services of Nevada, according to prior public statements he himself made about the organization's work — meaning the man prosecutors accuse of taking the charity's money was, at the time, the public face running it.
The indictments do not detail how the alleged conversion took place, and no additional charges have been announced. Attorneys for the Bedwells were not listed in the court records reviewed on Friday, and no public statements from the couple or their representatives were available when the indictment was reported.
From police lieutenant to a run for sheriff
Tim Bedwell spent years as a lieutenant with the North Las Vegas Police Department before stepping onto the countywide stage: in 2018 he ran for Clark County sheriff, the top elected law-enforcement post in the county that includes Las Vegas. He lost that race to Joe Lombardo, who later became governor of Nevada. After leaving the police department, Bedwell moved into nonprofit leadership and became chief executive of Lutheran Social Services of Nevada.
During the grand jury proceedings, a judge ordered indictment warrants for both defendants. Bail was set at $64,000 cash only for Tim Bedwell and $60,400 cash only for Michele Bedwell — cash-only bail, with no bond option — and the judge barred both of them from contacting former board members of Lutheran Social Services of Nevada.
Why this case lands hard in the Las Vegas Valley
Lutheran Social Services of Nevada has long been one of the region's frontline safety-net organizations, helping families across the Las Vegas Valley with food assistance, housing support and other basic needs, and it has publicly described rising demand during periods of federal disruption. The alleged theft covers a full year in which the organization was actively serving that community — money prosecutors say was meant for vulnerable residents is now at the centre of a felony case against the couple, one of whom led the charity.
What a category B felony means in Nevada
Under Nevada law, a category B felony is punishable by one to six years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000, though any sentence would be determined by the court if there were a conviction. The single count each defendant faces is the comprehensive-theft count covering the full $60,400, in the band of $25,000 or more but less than $100,000 alleged in the indictments.
What happens next
The case is being handled in Clark County District Court. Arraignments will be scheduled once the defendants are taken into custody, court records show, and no future court dates had been set as of Friday. Until then, the indictment stands as an allegation the prosecution must prove: a grand jury has found enough to charge, but the Bedwells have not been convicted of anything, and the question of how the charity's money was allegedly converted — a detail the indictments themselves do not spell out — is one the court process will have to answer in public.