Friday, March 5, 1999 | 12:31 p.m.
The king of the so-called sex-tease clubs has finally been deposed.
After a decade of avoiding prosecutors and years after the clubs were closed, Terry Gordon pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony charge of obtaining money under false pretenses.
His manager, John Sweeney, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to obtain money under false pretenses, a gross misdemeanor.
Gordon's clubs, which were scattered around town, enticed gullible tourists with completely naked women and beguiling talk of sexual fulfillment.
The only requirement was the purchase of a bottle or two of nonalcoholic champagne at prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on what the traffic would bear.
But there was no sex, and visits with women to back rooms were said to have resulted in nothing more than a little dance by a naked woman. Irate patrons were summarily ejected from the clubs by burley security guards.
Because the clubs did not serve alcohol and had general business licenses, government officials were at a loss to control the clubs, and complaints piled up.
But in 1994, Deputy District Attorney Frank Ponticello obtained a grand jury indictment against Gordon and Sweeney on 19 felony counts.
In District Judge Sally Loehrer's courtroom Thursday, the 58-year-old Gordon ended his marathon court battle three days before his scheduled trial by pleading guilty to the single felony count involving his clubs' operations in 1991 through 1993.
He and Sweeney, 36, admitted their employees misled customers into believing they were going to have sexual encounters as part of "entertainment packages" they were buying.
Although prostitution is a crime in Clark County, accepting money for sex and then not delivering also is a crime.
As part of the plea bargain, Gordon has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and pay $35,000 to police and prosecutors to pay for the investigations and court pursuit. He also will have to pay restitution to three victims named in the indictment, although Ponticello did not know how much that would be.
In return, prosecutors agreed not to pursue Gordon on perjury charges or file civil actions against him.
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