Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Sex club ‘touching’ rule at center of bribery case

The Clark County Commission last year passed and repealed an ordinance like the one that is at the center of federal indictments handed down in San Diego on Thursday.

Seven people -- including Las Vegas topless club owner Michael Galardi and former Clark County Commissioner turned Galardi lobbyist Lance Malone -- were indicted on fraud and bribery charges stemming from Galardi's alleged effort to repeal a San Diego ordinance that bans contact between topless dancers and patrons.

The indictment alleges that Galardi bought the votes of three San Diego city councilmen. The councilmen were working on overturning the ordinance when the investigation became public in May. The ordinance was never repealed in San Diego.

Last summer, the Clark County Commission was in the middle of a similar debate on an ordinance to limit touching between dancers and patrons.

Former Commissioners Dario Herrera and Erin Kenny, and current Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, who have all been identified as subjects or targets of the federal probe in Las Vegas, were major players in the debate on the sex club ordinances.

In July 2002, the Clark County Commission voted 5-1 to restrict the stuffing of money into G-strings at topless clubs. Galardi's club, Jaguars, was among the 20 affected.

Kenny was absent for the vote and Herrera cast the lone vote against the restrictions.

Just weeks after the restrictions were adopted, Kincaid-Chauncey asked that the ordinance be reconsidered and urged the county to meet with attorneys representing strip clubs in drafting the new regulations.

"We have created a dilemma and a situation none of us feel comfortable about," Kenny added during that Aug. 20, 2002, meeting.

When the commission voted again last fall, the board removed the part of the ordinance that had prohibited the touching of dancers by placing money into G-strings.

The new rule stated that strippers cannot make contact with a customer's feet and that dancers under the age of 21 cannot perform in clubs that serve alcohol.

The ordinance also required a centralized monitor station that allows Metro Police or business inspectors to immediately see what is occurring in private rooms.

The entire upper floor of the Las Vegas Jaguars is lined with private rooms.

Weeks after the new ordinance was adopted, Galardi's company asked the commission to allow his Jaguars club to be annexed into the city. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman wrote a letter to Herrera supporting the annexation, but Herrera did not support the move. The annexation never went through.

County cell phone records show Kenny phoned Malone 89 times in the months during which the ordinances were being crafted and changed.

The federal indictment in San Diego includes references to 33 separate phone conversations intercepted on wiretaps, between the three city councilmen, Malone and Galardi.

On May 28, 2002, San Diego City Councilman Charles Lewis used Malone's cell phone to call Galardi and asked Galardi for "five" before June 30, 2002, according to the indictment.

Kenny could not be reached for comment. She has recently been identified as a defendant in a sealed federal criminal case, and allegedly has told friends and associates that she had made a mistake and is now working with federal investigators.

Kenny reportedly has been captured on a wiretap talking with a family member about how to move $200,000 into an offshore account.

Kenny's attorney, Frank Cremen, said he would be speculating about any impact the San Diego indictments could have in Las Vegas.

"I don't know that it has any significant impact on my client," Cremen said. "I don't know that she has any connection with what is going on in San Diego, so this has no bearing on her."

Kincaid-Chauncey has said that a trust for children with which she worked had received a contribution from Galardi. She has recently disputed reports that the contribution was cash handed to her from Malone.

After being informed of the indictments Thursday, Kincaid-Chauncey said she did not think they would have any bearing on her.

She also said she saw no reason to step down from her position as chair of the county commission.

"I believe in our justice system, and our justice system is predicated on the belief that you're innocent until proven guilty," Kincaid-Chauncey said. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm innocent until proven guilty."

Herrera declined to comment and referred calls to his attorney, David Brown, who said he had no opinion on the San Diego indictments.

Former Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald, who has also been identified as a subject of the probe, could not be reached Thursday. His attorney, Richard Wright, did not return phone messages for comment.

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