Brazil won’t return Nevada brothel figure to U.S.

Sunday, Oct. 24, 1999 | 10:29 a.m.

David Houston, who was in contact Friday with Conforte's lawyers in Brazil, said the supreme court there reviewed the U.S. charges last week and ruled 8-0 that the Brazilian statute of limitations had been exceeded.

The court also found that the narrow terms of the U.S. extradition treaty with Brazil did not cover the bankruptcy fraud, said Houston, who represents a Conforte associate.

Conforte, former owner of the Mustang Ranch brothel east of Reno, fled the country about a decade ago to avoid prosecution on income-tax evasion charges. Authorities think he has been living in Brazil and elsewhere in South America since.

Conforte also was slapped with a 33-count indictment in 1998 alleging racketeering, money laundering and bribery.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Damm said the government is frustrated with its inability to bring Conforte back for trial. The government was informed that Conforte was arrested last week in Brazil on the U.S. warrant but later released, he said.

Damm was unable to provide details of Conforte's arrest or say how long he was detained. He said he could not comment on what additional action the government would take to return Conforte to Nevada to face the charges.

Conforte was accused in the 1998 indictment of being the Mustang Ranch's hidden owner. He forfeited the brothel to the Internal Revenue Service before he fled the country, and the IRS sold it for back taxes.

Federal prosecutors claim Conforte, using middlemen, bought the brothel back and controlled it from abroad.

In July, a federal jury in Reno found the companies allegedly fronting for Conforte guilty of various charges. The firms were ordered to forfeit the brothel, which the government closed and padlocked Aug. 9.

Also found guilty in the case was longtime Conforte associate Shirley Colletti, 62, a former Storey County commissioner.

Unspecified allegations of juror misconduct have held up sentencing of Colletti. U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben is considering a motion to hold a new trial.

Prostitution is allowed in 12 of Nevada's 17 counties under state law, but is illegal in Reno and Las Vegas.