Sigal Chattah, then Nevada's acting US Attorney, did not set the bail that freed Tom Alexandrovich, court records and Clark County's district attorney show. Police arrested the Israeli cyber official in a child-luring sting in Henderson on 6 August 2025. He posted $10,000 (about £7,500) at Henderson Detention Center the next day and returned to Israel.
The claim that Chattah released him circulated online in August 2025, including a post by commentator Candace Owens. On Monday 28 September, The New Republic said she allowed him to return to Israel on bail. The records show the bail was a standard, preset amount, which he posted before any probable-cause review.
How the Bail Worked at the Henderson Jail
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said on 15 August 2025 that a multi-agency operation, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), led to eight arrests. Prosecutors allege Alexandrovich chatted online with an FBI agent who posed as a girl of 15. Police said he was in town for the Black Hat cybersecurity conference and told agents he believed he was talking to an 18-year-old. All eight were suspected of luring, or trying to lure, a child online for sex. The Black Hat conference, a major annual event in Las Vegas, often attracts global cybersecurity professionals, which explains Alexandrovich's presence in Nevada at the time.
A court schedule fixed Alexandrovich's bail in advance, and he could post it before a probable-cause review. 'There was no prosecution involvement,' Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said, according to KLAS-TV. The station reported that Alexandrovich posted it before prosecutors filed a complaint. Chief Deputy District Attorney Jake Villani sought no change to the bail at Alexandrovich's first court appearance on 3 September 2025.
What Chattah Said and What the Record Shows
Nevada's US Attorney's Office has brought no federal charges against Alexandrovich, and in August 2025 it said Wolfson's office was handling the case. In an X post on 18 August 2025, Chattah blamed 'A liberal district attorney and state court judge in Nevada' for letting Alexandrovich keep his passport. The same post said Pam Bondi, then head of the Justice Department, had phoned Chattah and FBI Director Kash Patel.
A liberal district attorney and state court judge in Nevada FAILED TO REQUIRE AN ALLEGED CHILD MOLESTER TO SURRENDER HIS PASSPORT, which allowed him to flee our country. The Attorney General @AGPamBondi just called me outraged and she also called the @FBIDirectorKash . The…
— F. A. United States Attorney Sigal Chattah (@USAttyChattah) August 19, 2025
Wolfson rejected Chattah's criticism and accused her of an 'unfitness to serve.' Nevada criminal defence lawyer Richard Davies told Al Jazeera that letting Alexandrovich leave was 'highly unusual'. The State Department said the US government did not intervene. On 20 August 2025, Owens posted on X that 'The U.S. attorney general who released him is Israeli-born Sigal Chattah.' Bondi, not Chattah, held that post at the time.
Where the Case Against Alexandrovich Stands Now
A Clark County grand jury indicted Alexandrovich in October 2025 on one felony count of luring children or mentally ill persons using technology for sexual conduct. He pleaded not guilty and has appeared by video from Israel. District Judge Tina Talim later denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Alexandrovich's lawyers said in August 2025 he would 'vigorously defend this case in the court and not in the media.' A Henderson judge later ordered him to avoid minors and dating apps. The Nevada Court of Appeals denied his pretrial petition on 28 August 2026, and the docket shows a rehearing petition on 11 September.
