Robert Telles’ Wife Mae Ismael: Affair, Testimony, and Divorce

Robert Telles’ wife, Mae Ismael, is the woman who was married to the former Clark County public administrator for roughly 14 years before divorcing him weeks after his October 2024 sentencing for the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German. Also known by her maiden name Mary Ann Ramirez, she testified for Telles at the penalty phase of his trial, calling him an “amazing father” and their marriage “good, overall,” even as prosecutors used a text message she sent on the morning of the killing as part of their case against him.¹

Who She Is

Ismael married Telles around 2010. She has described their household as a blended family: her son from an earlier relationship, Telles’ daughter from his first marriage to Tonia Burton, and a daughter the couple had together.² Burton testified that the daughter she shares with Telles was 16 at the time of the August 2024 trial.³

Most of what the public record shows about Ismael comes from court proceedings and reporting tied to Telles’ criminal cases. A wedding date and the story of how the two met are not part of that record.

The 2020 Domestic Violence Arrest

On the night of February 29, 2020, Ismael called 911 from the couple’s Peccole Ranch home in Las Vegas. “My husband is going crazy,” she told the dispatcher in audio obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “He had too much to drink tonight, and it’s just … me and my kids are scared.”⁴

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police arrest report, the couple had been at the Bellagio earlier that evening. During the drive home, Telles grabbed Ismael around the front of her neck and hit her arm and the steering wheel, causing the car to swerve. At the house, Telles yelled “Kill me!” while Ismael and the two children barricaded themselves in a room. He broke in and grabbed her in what officers described as a tight bear hug, and the children physically pried him off.⁵

Telles was booked on charges of domestic battery and resisting police. The domestic battery charge was dismissed through negotiated plea terms. On the resisting charge he received a suspended 90-day jail sentence conditioned on completing a behavior modification class called “Corrective Thinking” and paying $418 in fines. The case was dismissed in March 2021 after he completed the class.⁴

The Affair and German’s Reporting

In May and June 2022, Jeff German published articles in the Review-Journal exposing turmoil inside the Clark County Public Administrator’s office, including an intimate relationship between Telles and a subordinate, Roberta Lee-Kennett.⁶ Roughly 10,000 Microsoft Teams messages later released by the county confirmed the affair.⁷

Telles first denied the affair to German, then admitted it on the stand, saying he had lied because he “didn’t think it was the public’s business.”⁸ Asked by a juror whether his wife had known about the affair before German’s reporting, Telles answered: “She actually did find out beforehand. I made a mistake; it is what it is. As far as my wife is concerned and my family is concerned, they did forgive me for what happened.”¹

Prosecutors told the jury Telles blamed German for destroying his career, his reputation, and his marriage. The day before the killing, Telles learned the county was preparing to release more messages between him and Lee-Kennett in response to a public records request German had filed.⁹

The “Where Are You?” Text

Ismael became part of the evidence through a single message. At about 10:35 a.m. on September 2, 2022, the morning of the murder, she sent Telles a text from her Apple Watch asking, “Where are you?” It went unanswered.¹

Prosecutors argued the text mattered on two counts. It was captured on Ismael’s watch but was not found on Telles’ phone, raising the question of whether he had deleted it. And the timing lined up with surveillance footage showing a maroon SUV in German’s neighborhood. The state’s theory was that Telles left his phone at home to avoid location tracking; the phone showed no outgoing activity between 8:48 a.m. and 2:05 p.m. that day.¹⁰

On cross-examination, Telles acknowledged that a phone’s owner can delete texts but did not admit doing so, saying he had been out on a walk.¹¹ An LVMPD forensics supervisor testified there was “no definitive way to know” whether the message had been deleted from Telles’ device, because the extraction software used does not always capture every deleted item.¹⁰

Her Penalty-Phase Testimony

A jury convicted Telles of first-degree murder in August 2024 after about 12 hours of deliberation over three days.¹² At the penalty phase on August 28, 2024, the defense called three family members: Ismael, Telles’ first wife Tonia Burton, and his mother Rosalinda Anaya.

Ismael told the jury that their 14-year marriage had “its ups and downs but was good overall.” She described Telles as “the fun parent” and an “amazing father” who kept building relationships with his children from detention, and she praised his work ethic. She did not address the affair on the stand.¹ “I would love, at some point, to give my children the chance to have their father back,” she said.¹³

The Divorce

On October 16, 2024, District Judge Michelle Leavitt sentenced Telles to life in prison with a minimum of 28 years before parole eligibility, including eight years in enhancements for use of a deadly weapon and the victim’s age, plus $23,357 in restitution to German’s family.¹⁴

Less than three weeks later, on November 2, 2024, Telles and Ismael filed a joint petition for divorce. Family Court Judge Paul Gaudet signed the decree three days later, on November 5. The filing stated that the couple’s community property had already been divided. After the divorce, Ismael resumed using the name Mary Ann Ramirez.¹⁵

1
Court TV. NV v. Robert Telles: Investigative Reporter Murder Trial
2
First Amendment Encyclopedia. Ex-Politician Convicted in 2022 Killing of Vegas Reporter; Jury Sets Sentence at 20 Years to Life
3
NBC Washington. Ex-Politician Guilty of Murder of Las Vegas Investigative Reporter
4
Las Vegas Review-Journal. 911 Call to Police From Robert Telles’ Wife: ‘My Husband Is Going Crazy’
5
KTNV. Police: Public Administrator Rob Telles Grabbed Wife’s Neck, Yelled ‘Kill Me’ in 2020 Domestic Violence Case
6
CNN. Jeff German Robert Telles Stories
7
Las Vegas Review-Journal. County Failed to Review Revealing Messages After Allegations of Telles Affair
8
KTNV. Prosecutor Grills Robert Telles; Defendant Denies Murder but Admits to Affair
9
CBS News. Robert Telles Trial Verdict: Jeff German Murder
10
8 News Now. Intense Cross-Examination Leads to Day 10 of High-Profile Murder Trial of Robert Telles
11
News 3 Las Vegas. Robert Telles Testimony Continued Cross Examination
12
The Guardian. Robert Telles Las Vegas Sentence
13
8 News Now. Penalty Phase Begins for Robert Telles, Convicted of Reporter’s Stabbing Death
14
Las Vegas Review-Journal. Former Public Official to Be Sentenced in Hearing in Reporter Jeff German’s Murder
15
Las Vegas Review-Journal. Divorce Finalized for Robert Telles Following Conviction in RJ Reporter’s Murder