by Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal, January 30, 2023
Former Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad on Monday was appointed to the Nevada Gaming Control Board by Gov. Joe Lombardo.
Assad, 71, fills the three-member Control Board, following board member Philip Katsaros’ announcement earlier this month that he would not pursue reappointment to the board.
“The Nevada Gaming Control Board is a critical state agency, and I’m confident that George will honorably execute the mission of the board,” Lombardo said Monday in a news release. “George is an experienced regulator and judge, and I look forward to his service.”
Assad, who received his undergraduate degree from Emerson College in Boston and later earned his Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law, has also worked as a prosecutor in the Clark County district attorney’s office and later was a private attorney representing civil and criminal cases in private practice.
Assad had a decade of regulatory experience in the state as a commissioner for the Nevada Transportation Authority, which oversees taxicabs outside of Clark County and in-state bus, limousines, moving companies and other charter transportation.
No stranger to controversy, he has had the lowest retention score of any judge in the Review-Journal’s biennial “Judging the Judges” survey in 2011. And, his son, Anthony Carleo, was convicted of armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon after he admitted to stealing $1.5 million in gambling chips from the Bellagio that year.
Earlier in January, Lombardo appointed Las Vegas attorney Kirk Hendrick as the board’s chairman, replacing interim chairwoman Brittnie Watkins, who has two years remaining on her term.
It was the third gaming regulatory appointment for Lombardo. On Friday, he selected former two-term Nevada State Treasurer and Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki to replace to replace Ben Kieckhefer on the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at [email protected] or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.