Grand jury set to indict Walters

Jeff German and Bill Gang

Friday, Oct. 16, 1998 | 3:07 a.m.

A Clark County Grand Jury was to return an indictment today against Billy Walters, a prominent golf course developer and professional gambler, and three of his associates.

The grand jury was scheduled to present the three-count indictment to District Judge Lee Gates at 11:30 a.m.

Walters and the three others -- Daniel Pray of Logandale, James Hanley of Las Vegas, and John Tognino of New York -- are facing charges of conspiracy and engaging in unlawful transactions involving monetary instruments.

The charges are said to be related to the multimillion-dollar sports betting activities of Walters, described by law enforcement authorities as one of the county's biggest gamblers.

Deputy Attorney General David Thompson, who spearheaded the investigation, presented 79 exhibits along with numerous witnesses to the grand jury to obtain the indictment.

The exhibits include computer records, financial records from the Horseshoe Club hotel-casino, and reports of the contents of safe deposit boxes at five casinos -- the Horseshoe, Bally's, Mirage, Las Vegas Hilton and Stardust.

Attorney Richard Wright, who represents Walters, could not be reached for comment. In May, Wright was able to persuade a judge to dismiss a similar indictment against Walters before it was made public.

Last month, the Clark County Commission, in a controversial vote, awarded Walters a lease to develop a 155-acre public golf course on prime Strip land south of Russell Road.

In winning the contract, Walters, who also runs the Desert Pines Golf Course for the city of Las Vegas, bested two other high-powered business groups -- one that included tennis star Andre Agassi and another that involved veteran political consultant Sig Rogich.

Only three of the seven commissioners, Yvonne Atkinson Gates, Myrna Williams and Erin Kenny, voted to award the contract. The other four, Bruce Woodbury, Mary Kincaid and Lorraine Hunt all abstained.

Gates, who received a campaign contribution from Walters in 1996, said today she didn't know whether the indictment would have an impact on last month's vote.

"It certainly makes you want to take a second look at things," she said. "We were never officially informed that he was under investigation."

Gates, who originally backed another applicant for the project, said she intended to ask the Clark County district attorney's office for guidance.

Added Williams: "I'm not sure what we do in a situation like this. We'll probably have to look at it. But beyond that, I don't know what to do."

Kenny could not be reached for comment.

The grand jury first launched an investigation into the betting activities of Walters in April.

The attorney general's office and Metro intelligence detectives conducted the probe, which stemmed from a December 1996 raid of Walters and his Sierra Sports Consulting business in Las Vegas.

About $2.7 million was said to have been seized in the raid that coincided with similar court-approved searches by authorities in New York.

Walters and his three associates secretly were indicted in May, but the charges were tossed out by District Judge Donald Mosley during rare closed door hearings.

Mosley reportedly rejected the indictment on grounds prosecutors failed to show Walter all of the evidence they provided the grand jury.

The judge ruled against a legal challenge from the Sun to unseal the indictment and open the proceedings.

Walters has long been regarded as one of the biggest sports bettors in the country, doing millions of dollars worth of business a year.

He has contended all along that he is a legitimate bettor.

In 1990, he was indicted by a federal grand jury with a dozen others in the FBI's well-publicized Computer Gang betting probe. But following a lengthy trial in 1992, Walters and the rest of the defendants all were acquitted.

Since then, Walters has stepped up his civic presence in Las Vegas.

As his golf course business has flourished in Southern Nevada and across the country, he has earned a reputation as a major contributor to local charities.

In biographical information provided the county, Walters said he is a major donor at Opportunity Village and UNLV and is on the board of the United Way of Southern Nevada. He also listed nearly a dozen other charities that he and his wife, Susan, support.

Walters also has maintained a strong presence in politics.

His companies donated $50,000 to the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Kenny Guinn, but after word of the criminal investigation leaked out in April, Guinn returned the contributions.

In 1996, Walters hosted a fund-raiser for Gates, Woodbury and then County Commissioner Paul Christensen.

Records show Walters also has contributed to several judicial races.

The attorney general's office has overseen the investigation because District Attorney Stewart Bell disqualified his office early in the probe.

Bell said in April he removed his office from the case because his 20-year-old son Stephen, had worked for Walters at Desert Pines.

In early 1997, Walters' lawyer, Richard Wright, filed a motion seeking the return of the $2.7 million, as well as several luxury cars and tens of thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment seized in the December 1996 raid.

Wright contended police had not demonstrated probably cause that Walters and his associates had committed any crimes.

District Judge Jack Lehman ordered the luxury cars returned, but he refused to force police to give up the cash and computer equipment. The money was placed in an interest-bearing account, which now exceeds $3 million.