A Las Vegas attorney warned the nonprofit Hope for Prisoners that the organization’s founder, Jon Ponder, had “lost his way” nearly six years before Ponder’s arrest Tuesday on suspicion of sex assault and other charges, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has confirmed.
The politically connected Ponder, 60, is well known in the Las Vegas Valley for his years of work as chief executive officer of the organization that helps formerly incarcerated men and women reenter the workforce. Several Metropolitan Police Department administrators and the Clark County district attorney have previously served on the organization’s Board of Directors.
Ponder, who is being held without bail, faces a total of nine felonies and 11 gross misdemeanors, including suspicion of unauthorized contact with a prisoner by prison employee or volunteer, attempted coercion, and attempted unauthorized contact with a prisoner.
The organization did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Police have yet to detail the specifics of the allegations against Ponder, who has had several citizens or prominence speak on behalf of Hope for Prisoners over the years. In 2024, the organization listed his total compensation as $213,226 per year, according to IRS filings.
A former bank robber and three-time felon, Ponder received a pardon from President Donald Trump in 2020.
Concerns arose long before arrest
Longtime Las Vegas attorney Kristina Wildeveld helped Ponder obtain both federal and state pardons. She was also a member of the Hope for Prisoners board of directors for years and helped the organization raise money. In September 2020, she resigned from the board and wrote a letter to board members voicing concerns about potential wrongdoings by Ponder.
The letter, obtained by the Review-Journal, was sent to the Hope for Prisoners Board of Directors at the time.
Wildeveld questioned how Ponder, while serving on the Nevada Sentencing Commission, could cast votes that kept a pregnant woman from being released from prison. He also cast a vote that kept inmates with severe health problems from going in front of the Nevada pardons board to seek relief, Wildeveld said in the letter.
“To me, it appears that this organization has losts its way and it is of great concern that it is no longer serving its target population – instead the focus had turned to promoting Jon Ponder and fundraising and promotion has been placed ahead of the original mission,” Wildeveld wrote.
She said defense attorneys believed that “Jon Ponder has lost his way.”
“He is no longer a representative of the persons in prison, serving real time,” she wrote. “He is false hope for them, a con.”
Wildeveld declined comment Wednesday. In her resignation letter she wrote that Ponder had too much control over Hope for Prisoners.
“The Board’s reliance on one person, coupled with permitting the mission of law enforcement to supplant the Hope for Prisoners’ mission is a surefire disaster,” Wildeveld wrote.
Ponder declined a request for an interview for this story.
Paul Lunkwitz, president of a union that represents corrections officers across the state, said Ponder was viewed with skepticism.
“The opinions that have been relayed to me of Jon Ponder — they were not in a positive light,” Lunkwitz said. “He sides with the inmates, treats officers poorly. Those were what were directly expressed to me. He was not very well liked by the officers.”
Lunkwitz said complaints were voiced about Ponder within the prison system.
“My understanding is that even when officers had concerns or complaints that they aired all the way up to the director or deputy director, that this guy had some sort of outside influence that may have prevented the level of scrutiny that someone else may have received,” Lunkwitz said.
Prison officials started investigating allegations against Ponder in April, and referred their findings to Metro, according to a corrections department spokesperson. Ponder was then barred from entering prison facilities.
“The NDOC continues its partnership with Hope for Prisoners with vocational training at Southern Desert Correctional Center,” the spokesperson wrote. “The NDOC does not anticipate any disruption to those services.”
Wife alleged domestic violence
Ponder’s wife, Jamie Ponder, filed a complaint for divorce in District Court in June. In the initial complaint, Jamie Ponder filled out a form that asked if there were other court cases that could impact the divorce proceeding.
A response under the question stated “He has pending criminal charges.” Another note in the divorce filing referenced a request for a temporary protective order on June 7.
A box for “domestic violence” was also checked in the filing.
In the application for the protective order Jamie Ponder wrote:
“I found out my husband was having an affair. I seen messages on his phone. I confronted him and our conversation escalated. He put his hands on me and pushed me against the wall-hallway. We had another conversation in our room and he put his hands around my mouth. My girls both said get your hands off my mom.”
Jamie Ponder wrote in her divorce complaint that she was dependent on her husband for finances.
“I was terminated from my employment with our nonprofit organization at my husband’s direction and currently have no income,” Jamie Ponder wrote. “I devoted years to helping build HOPE for Prisoners alongside my husband, which limited my financial independence. I am requesting financial support to maintain stable housing and meet my basic living expenses during this transition.”
Jamie Ponder later filed an amended complaint in which pending criminal charges were not referenced. District Court records indicate the complaint for divorce was later withdrawn in July. A woman who answered a phone number contained in the divorce filing declined comment when reached by the Review-Journal.
Hope for Prisoners graduates more than 450 people per year and has extensive ties to law enforcement in Southern Nevada. The nonprofit has in the past worked with Metro, the College of Southern Nevada, The Vegas Chamber, Workforce Connections, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation and hundreds of volunteers.
One of the organization’s many supporters has been Billy Walters, who was once considered one of the most successful sports bettors in the country. In 2022 he helped Hope for Prisoners establish the Billy Walters Center for Second Chances, 333 N. Rancho Drive. During a 2022 ceremony Walters said his time in prison motivated him to give back to those who have been incarcerated.
Walters was released from federal prison in 2020 after serving 2½ years of his five-year sentence, which was handed down in July 2017 and included a $10 million fine. Walters received a commutation from Trump in 2021.
Former Las Vegas Raiders receive Henry Ruggs III — who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in a crash that killed a woman in Las Vegas in November 2021 — spoke to other inmates in June 2025 while incarcerated in a talk facilitated by Ponder and Hope for Prisoners.
Wolfson recuses
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Wednesday he is recusing himself from the case and assigning assistant district attorneys to the case.
“Based upon the fact that I previously served as a board member for Hope For Prisoners, and the fact that I have participated in many of that organization’s graduations, I have removed myself from any decision-making role in the case of the State of Nevada V. Jon Ponder,” Wolfson said in an email.
After Ponder received his pardon from Trump, he said when he got out of prison he was committed to turning his life around.
“We live in a nation of second chances,” Ponder said as he thanked the Metropolitan Police Department members who volunteered their time to help Hope for Prisoners participants.
“My hope for America is that law enforcement and people in the communities across the country can come together and realize that as Americans we have more in common than we have differences,” Ponder said.
According to a prior Las Vegas Review-Journal story, Trump met Ponder when he sat in the front row of a Rose Garden celebration for the National Day of Prayer in 2018.
“Jon grew up without his father,” Trump said, adding that Ponder’s mother was unable to keep the young man “out of gangs and off the streets.”
After Ponder joined him at the podium, Trump looked over his double-breasted suit and tie, and said approvingly, “You don’t look like a bank robber. You’ve come a long way.”
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.
