Infamous brothel surrenders keys to government

MUSTANG, Nev. - After more than two decades of trying to padlock the Mustang Ranch, government agents prepared to take over the infamous brothel in an almost anticlimactic surrender of keys.

The court-ordered closure Monday marks the second time the government has taken over the bordello.

"The government intends to shut it down and leave it shut down until the point in time where the court determines if there are any valid claims against the property," said James Collie, chief Internal Revenue Service investigator for the southwestern United States.

"There is no intention of the government to operate it as a brothel."

While prostitution is legal in the county where the Mustang is located just off Interstate-80 and 15 minutes east of Reno, the government has long contended that its original owner, Joe Conforte, paid off local officials and skirted paying taxes.

The government's long crusade ended last month when a federal jury convicted Shirley Colletti, A.G.E. Corp. and A.G.E. Enterprises of fraud and racketeering.

Prosecutors said Colletti, a former Storey County commissioner and Mustang manager, and A.G.E. conspired to conceal the fact Conforte continues to own the brothel illegally.

They said Colletti and A.G.E.'s purported officers served as a front for the brothel and siphoned money off to Conforte, who FBI agents believe is on the lam in South America.

Judge Howard McKibben gave the brothel until Monday to prepare to close. It was still in operation on Sunday.

"Everybody is going to be out of there by 5 o'clock, and we expect no trouble," said Richard Sherman, the Los Angeles attorney representing the two A.G.E. companies.

The government first shut down the Mustang in September 1990, selling it the following November to recover some of the $13 million in back taxes the IRS said Conforte owed.

It was sold for $1.49 million at tax auction to the lone bidder, Victor Perry. The brother of Conforte lawyer Peter Perry - a key witness in the trial that resulted in Monday's closure - submitted the lone bid on behalf of Mustang Properties Inc., which the government contends was a paper company set up by Conforte.

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