Closure of famous Nevada brothels could cripple county budget

SCOTT SONNER

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 1999 | 9:15 a.m.

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. - County commissioners who count on hundreds of thousands of tax dollars from two Mustang Ranch brothels said Tuesday a court order to close the bordellos near Reno next week could cripple the county budget.

But a lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Owners Association told the Storey County Commission he's had dozens of inquiries from people who want to buy the houses of ill fame, including a Reno cardiologist and a veterinarian from Connecticut.

And a federal prosecutor said that while the keys to the brothels will be turned over to federal agents on Monday, the ultimate fate of the property won't be determined for months or even years.

A federal judge ordered the Mustang Ranch brothels closed effective Aug. 9 after a jury last month convicted the owners, A.G.E. Corp., and Shirely Colletti - former Mustang madam and former Storey County commissioner - of fraud, racketeering and conspiracy charges.

Prosecutors said they worked to conceal the fact that Joe Conforte - the former owner on the lam in South America - was using A.G.E as a front to hide his continued illegal ownership of the brothels.

The closures will leave one brothel in Storey County, about 9 miles east of Reno.

Storey County Commission Chairman Charles Haynes said Tuesday it is possible he'll move to rescind the ordinance that legalized prostitution at bordellos in the county in 1971.

"There's been a lot of speculation as to what the future of prostitution in Storey County will be," Haynes said Tuesday during a meeting at the county courthouse.

Of more immediate concern is whether the county will have to severely cut its services or consider property tax increases to make up for $233,00 in lost revenue in the form of brothel, liquor and boarding house licenses paid annually by the brothels slated for closure, he said.

"With a county budget as small as Storey County's, I don't think we can afford to lose a minimum of $230,000," Haynes said. "It could be as much as 1/16th of our entire county budget."

Greg "Bum" Hess, another member of the three-man commission, said he currently opposes outlawing brothels in the county but it remains an option and he'll keep an open mind.

Commission Vice Chairman Carl Trink said the discussion was premature. He said the county will miss the Mustang Ranch.

"They have been a very good neighbor to us. They've donated thousands of dollars to the county. It's a great loss," he said.

Barbara Jones of Reno appealed to the commission Tuesday to outlaw prostitution. She is working with a group of Reno churches that have contacted the brothels to help the women move or place them in other jobs.

"I'd like to see this be the beginning of the end of the brothels and turn around our reputation in Nevada," Jones said.

George Flint, lobbyist for the 32-member Nevada Brothel Owners Association, said regulated prostitution is preferred to street walkers. He said potential buyers are lining up in anticipation of a chance to get the brothels back from the federal government.

"I believe you might end up two years from now with five brothels instead of three," Flint said. "I've had 27 maybe 30 calls and visits from viable entities from inside and outside the state who have showed an interest to get in the business."

Flint said he's been told by FBI and IRS agents they would like to "bulldoze the property" then give the deeds to Storey County with the stipulation they not allow prostitution to continue there.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Damm, who helped prosecute the federal case, said a final decision about the property would be made by a "high ranking official in the Treasury Department.

"Any ultimate disposition of the property is something that is not to be decided for months if not years," he said Tuesday from Las Vegas.

Lars Pedersen, a pawn broker in Wendover, Nev., and his girlfriend Regina Winters, a former prostitute and brothel manager from Wells, are among those who want to take over the Mustang Ranch brothels.

"We're interested in buying the license and moving the building to another place," Winters said after the meeting Tuesday.

"I've been in the brothel business a long time, as a working girl myself and as a manager," she said.