Thursday, May 15, 2003 | 11:35 a.m.
Jack Galardi, the patriarch of the family whose strip clubs were raided by the FBI on Wednesday, has been a Las Vegas businessman since at least the late 1970s and he's no stranger to controversy or law enforcement investigations.
Jack Galardi co-owns Cheetah's strip club with his son, Michael Galardi. Michael Galardi is president of Cheetahs and his father is vice president. Michael Galardi also is president of The Gold Club Inc., which is listed as owner of Jaguars, a topless club that opened in an unincorporated part of Clark County in 1999.
He drew media attention in 1992 when his name came up during a federal drug probe involving a friend and former employee of one of his strip clubs. Federal authorities initially accused Galardi of methamphetamine trafficking, but he denied the allegations and was never charged.
The following year, Metro Police wanted more money and time to investigate how Galardi was able to make $26 million over a nine-year period in the cabaret business. Metro argued that Galardi had not been subject to a background investigation since 1990. Police wanted $11,000 to send investigators to Atlanta to get more information on a grand jury probe there involving Galardi, even though an attorney for Galardi said his client was never notified of the probe.
Although Galardi would have been billed the $11,000, the Clark County Commission denied Metro's request in a 4-3 vote. Then-County Commissioners Lance Malone, Erin Kenny and Dario Herrera and current Commissioner Myrna Williams voted against Metro's request. Voting in the minority and in favor of Metro's request were current Commissioners Bruce Woodbury, Yvonne Atkinson Gates and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey.
"He hasn't received a letter and he's never been arrested, but because he's made a profit we have to look into it?" Malone said in May 1999. "Even though I don't support that type of business, you have to do what's right for everyone."
After Malone lost a re-election bid in 2000 he formed his own consulting business and took on Michael Galardi as a client.
Last fall Michael Galardi tried to get local government to redraw city-county boundaries so that Jaguars would no longer be in an unincorporated area of the county. It would have allowed the club to avoid Clark County's more stringent lap dancing regulations. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said at the time that he supported Jaguars' request.
In addition to topless bars, Jack Galardi has also owned other bars and catering businesses, and is listed in Las Vegas records as the president of both Health Express and Rebel Adventure Tours. He also operates topless clubs in Atlanta and has resided in that city.
In the early 1990s Galardi was known to socialize with locally elected officials and he contributed money to political campaigns.
In 1998 he withdrew an application to open a strip club in Denver after strong opposition from area residents. According to the Denver Post, Jack Galardi was convicted of burglary in Las Vegas in 1971 related to breaking into and entering a U.S. post office and was also convicted of transporting stolen property abroad.
In 2000, a jury in Georgia awarded an ex-stripper $2.4 million in damages in a lawsuit in which Galardi was one of the defendants. The woman alleged that Galardi and the other defendants rigged a nude pageant and destroyed her career by preventing her from working at nightclubs owned by Galardi.
Mike Galardi's name also came up during last year's Republican primary for Clark County District Attorney. Candidate Abbi Silver accused opponent David Roger of a conflict of interest by accepting $45,000 in campaign donations from strip club owners, including $10,000 from Galardi.
Roger, who ultimately won the election, returned the $45,000 in donations after Silver's complaints. But Silver also faced allegations, which she denied, that she also solicited campaign funds from Galardi and other strip owners.
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