An attorney for a woman accused of entering a federal test site in North Las Vegas with a gun said Tuesday that she and her boyfriend, who also faces charges, “made a wrong turn.”
“It’s almost comical,” said attorney Chris Rasmussen, who represents 26-year-old Jessica Zamora. “It seems to me that they took a wrong turn, but the government believes something different.”
According to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday, Zamora and Treyvon Jameel Currie drove an unregistered Saturn sedan onto the U.S. Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site near Losee Road and North 5th Street on Aug. 5.
The agency is responsible for “maintaining the safety, security, and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent,” federal agents said.
Rasmussen described the area where the facility is located as mostly desert, frequented mainly by people riding off-road vehicles.
FBI Special Agent Nick Baranishyn said in court documents that Zamora and Currie drove past the badge office, where visitors are required to report, despite multiple signs posted throughout the property. They then drove to an entry gate about 300 feet inside the site, he said.
A security officer stopped the couple and asked for their credentials, according to authorities. Currie, who was driving, told the officer they were not employees but were following an employee onto the facility for “an unspecified purpose,” the agent said.
Neither of the names Currie provided for the purported employees matched anyone authorized to access the facility, Baranishyn said. The officers searched the Saturn and found a gun inside a bag at Zamora’s feet.
The couple and two others — Demandre Frazier and another person whose name was redacted in the indictment — face charges including illegal acquisition of a firearm, entry or attempted entry onto U.S. property by fraud or false pretenses, and possession of a firearm in a federal facility.
Rasmussen called the allegations unusual. He said the other people indicted may have helped Zamora obtain the Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol found in the car. Neither Zamora nor Currie was licensed to carry a concealed firearm.
“The FBI alleges there was this complicated conspiracy to do something that they’re not even sure of,” Rasmussen added. “I don’t know why Zamora and Currie were out there either, but if you’re going to sneak onto a secret base, you would not go through the front entrance.”
Rasmussen also said Zamora was released from federal custody without conditions and could face probation at most if convicted of the alleged offenses.
Zamora and Currie also were accused in a Las Vegas shooting days before the incident at the Department of Energy site.
A Metropolitan Police Department detective interviewed the pair after they were detained at the facility. According to the indictment, both admitted their roles in the Aug. 2 shooting: Currie fired at a man who was running away, while Zamora collected spent shell casings, the indictment said.
Authorities said the couple also admitted bringing the same gun to the test site.
In the shooting case, Zamora pleaded no contest to giving a false statement to or obstructing a public officer. She is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court in February.
Court records show Currie, who was charged with assault and other gun charges, is due in court in November.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
