Ponder ‘a prolific sexual predator’ says prosecutor as judge lowers bail

Jon Ponder, the felon embraced by President Donald Trump, Gov. Joe Lombardo, and most of Southern Nevada’s elected officials, used his powerful connections to prey on female inmates, Clark County Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck alleged Wednesday during a hearing to lower Ponder’s $1 million bail. 

“The stark reality is that Jon Ponder is a prolific sexual predator,” Fleck said, noting he used his position at Hope for Prisoners, a respected prison reentry program, to gain trust of public officials and access to women. 

“He cultivated relationships with some of the most powerful people in this community and in this state while smoking methamphetamine behind closed doors,” Fleck said, adding that police found meth and paraphernalia while searching Ponder’s home.  

“That is a person who is deeply, deeply entrenched in a life of crime. There was no setting and there was no relationship that was too sacred for Mr. Ponder to exploit.” 

The Current reported in August that the Hope for Prisoners board of directors was advised in 2020 to terminate Ponder, following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct raised by participants and employees. 

Following Trump’s pardon of Ponder, a three-time bank robber, at the Republican National Convention in 2020 and a tide of good will from national supporters, the board, which included then-Undersheriff Kevin McMahill and District Attorney Steve Wolfson, did not terminate Ponder. 

Gov. Joe Lombardo, who was sheriff at the time and formed a partnership with Ponder and HFP, will not say whether Metro conducted its own investigation into the allegations. 

Lombardo also refused to comment in 2024, when a resignation letter from board member Kristina Wildeveld about the allegations against Ponder surfaced in a lawsuit against him and the organization. 

The Dept. of Corrections denied the Current’s request for correspondence between NDOC and Lombardo’s office, citing the potential that it may be used as evidence. Lombardo’s office will not comment. 

Wolfson appeared in campaign ads with Ponder and launched a diversion program that allowed non-violent felons to avoid prison by completing Ponder’s program. 

“Ponder used his authority and his position with all of these women who were dependent on his program, dependent on him in order to get out of the system,” Fleck said. 

The charges in the indictment involve seven victims and span 11 years, from 2015 to 2026. 

“There is a particular dangerousness to a person who can sustain that level of deception for so long with so many different people,” Fleck said.  “He used access, he used his credibility, and he used his power to obtain submission.”

Fleck asked Judge Ron Israel to leave Pardon’s $1 million bail in place or increase it. 

“He has demonstrated that his ability to appear trustworthy while repeatedly betraying the people who trusted him the most is something he is very comfortable and confident with,” she said.

Ponder, according to Fleck, “engaged in an insidious pattern of sexual harassment with female inmates. He had unfettered access to them. He was able to go into Jean in an unprecedented manner. He was able to access women through Casa Grande,” Fleck said, referring to the minimum custody camp for women offenders and a halfway house in Las Vegas operated by the Nevada Department of Corrections.

Ponder’s alleged victims are all mothers, Fleck told Israel, adding that Ponder “used their children and families to hang over their heads in order to get them to submit sexually.” 

His approach to the women was consistent, Fleck said. “The sexual requests that he had for them were the same. The fantasies that he asked them to act out were the same. And the ones that ultimately engaged in sexual relationships with him, it was similar and same acts. This court has got to evaluate the danger that he is to the community.”

The Current was first to report in April that Ponder was under investigation. His attorney, Robert Draskovich, said the investigation began in March and that Ponder expected to be arrested, and hired a defense attorney early on. 

“He is going to fight this case,” Draskovich said Wednesday, noting the presence of Ponder’s supporters in the court. 

Fleck countered that police found a ‘go bag’ in Ponder’s home when he was arrested. 

Ponder, she said, did not rehabilitate himself after serving time in prison. 

“Instead he reinvented himself, and he became somebody that this community believed that they could trust. Somebody who was given privilege and access, and who became a beacon of hope for other prisoners,” she said. “Behind that public identity, Your Honor, there was somebody and is somebody today that is much more cunning and much more calculated and much more dangerous.”

Ponder “used ‘church’ services at Jean Conservation Camp as an opportunity to prey on women,” Fleck alleged. “During baptisms he would prey on women for sexual satisfaction.” 

Grand jury testimony indicates Ponder used HFP Christmas parties as a means of reuniting women with their children, only to extort sexual favors. 

“Certainly, the charges are some of the most serious I’ve seen,” Israel said of the 26-count indictment that includes four counts of sexual assault, which each carry a life term. 

Draskovich argued Ponder’s bail should be lowered because he initially faced 19 counts, including one count of sexual assault that carries a life sentence, and was released on $200,000 bail.

Ponder told Israel he had not been treated recently for addiction or mental health issues and was not under the influence of any drugs or medication, and that no one had ever suggested he be treated for a mental health or emotional condition. 

In June, his wife filed for divorce, claiming he put his hands on her neck. She later filed to dismiss the divorce complaint. 

Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum released Ponder to house arrest on $200,000 bail in August to the home he shares with his wife. He was arrested and detained following his indictment on Sept. 30 and has remained incarcerated since on $1 million bail set by Judge Carli Kierney. 

Israel decreased Ponder’s bail to $400,000 cash only, meaning he cannot post a percentage and obtain a bail bond. He remained in custody as of Wednesday afternoon. 

Ponder entered a plea of not guilty, relinquished his right to a speedy trial and a status check is scheduled in mid-November, at which time a date for trial is expected to be scheduled.