Friday, May 16, 2003 | 9:49 a.m.
The strip club raids this week that appear to be tied to an investigation of possible public corruption have conjured memories of Operation Yobo of the early 1980s.
That political corruption sting operation resulted in felony convictions of four prominent community leaders.
Former FBI agent Stephen Rybar, the lead investigator in Operation Yobo, said that when he learned about this week's raids "it felt like deja vu. And what we are seeing now I think is unfortunate."
"I do not want to pass judgment on any of the individuals in the current case, but it's sad that the real message that was sent 20 years ago to elected officials in Nevada may have been forgotten," he said. "I guess with the passing of time memories get dimmer."
Rybar, who today is a private investigator and owner of Investigative Services Corporation in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, said after the Yobo convictions many Las Vegans told him the message was so strong they could not imagine local politicians ever again stepping out of line -- at least to that extent.
Convicted in Operation Yobo on bribery charges were state Sens. Floyd Lamb and Gene Echols and Clark County Commissioners Jack Petitti and Woodrow Wilson.
"There is no doubt in my mind to this day that I was set up," said Echols, the only survivor of the four.
"But I don't sit around thinking about what happened because my philosophy is not to worry about things I cannot change. Also, nobody has reminded me about it in many years."
Echols pleaded guilty in 1984 to taking $1,000 from Rybar, who was posing as a representative of Arizona chiropractors who wanted to set up land deals in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe.
Echols has long denied the money was a bribe. He said it was payment for consulting work he did for the "investors."
"I did absolutely nothing wrong -- I'd do it again tomorrow," he said at the time of his 1982 indictment.
A born-again Christian, Echols pleaded guilty in June 1984, telling the Sun, "He (God) told me to do exactly what I did this morning."
Echols said Thursday he "had no reaction" as he read about the political figures named in Wednesday's warrants.
"I try not to get involved in other people's lives, though I have respect for what they have done in office," he said. "I do not know any of them personally and I try not to be judgmental of others."
Rybar said a concern he had in the early 1980s -- and concerns he believes federal agents have today -- is that they check their work real carefully because people's good names are in a vulnerable position.
"In a case of this size, hundreds of hours already have been put in to verify a lot of information just to approach a judge to get the warrants," he said. "The agents want to be careful because no one wants reputations to be unfairly sullied."
Rybar said he had hoped that the officials approached in Yobo would do the right thing.
"My feelings were of disappointment in the people who chose to extort me," Rybar said. "These were men who had spent many years building their reputations only to destroy them by making one stupid move.
"About 18 elected officials (targeted in the sting) chose not to try to extort me. That helped restore my faith."
Rybar wore a wire, taping the conversations with the political figures. His operation did not utilize phone wire taps. Speculation is that the current operation have included phone taps. However, Rybar, who worked 12 years as an FBI agent, is skeptical of that.
"I would be surprised," he said. "One of the requirements of Title 3 -- a wiretap -- is that no other investigation method is available.
"My reaction is that this is a case where an injured party complained to federal agents and showed them why they should look into it."
Echols, who served as North Las Vegas city councilman and later as mayor before leaving that post in 1973 to serve as state senator for 10 years, says he sold real estate after he got out of prison then retired here with his wife.
"Actually, I'm very pleased at the way things turned out for me," he said. "I haven't missed being a state senator for one minute. I have serenity."
Echols took the least amount of money of the four.
Wilson the first black elected to the Nevada Legislature and the second black man to serve on the County Commission, pleaded guilty to accepting a $5,000 bribe from Rybar the day Echols entered his plea.
Wilson was the only one of the four who did not serve time in prison. He was given a two-year suspended sentence and three years of probation. He served on the board of directors of Westside Federal Credit Union -- a business he had founded -- until his death on Christmas Day 1999 at age 84.
Petitti, who served 12 years on the North Las Vegas City Council and 12 years on the County Commission, was convicted of taking a $5,000 bribe from Rybar, who posed as a developer of a fat farm on Mount Charleston.
Petitti was sentenced to six months in prison, given three years probation and fined $15,000. He died in November 2000 at age 81.
Lamb, who served 10 years on the Lincoln County Commission and 27 years in the state Senate, was convicted in 1983 of accepting $20,000 from Rybar in exchange for a promise to help arrange a loan from the state Public Employees Retirement System to help in the purchase of a Reno casino.
He was sentenced to three years in prison but was released in 8 1/2 months, partly because of ill health. In 1989 the state Board of Pardons restored his civil rights, allowing him to vote.
Lamb spent much of his later years as a cowboy at his family ranch in Alamo, 95 miles north of Las Vegas. He died in June at age 87.
Rybar said the recent events have made him long for the days when he was working a big FBI case.
"I'm dying to know what was behind the scenes of the investigation," he said. "I can't wait to see how it unfolds."
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