Grand jury wants to know who paid for fliers

Thursday, April 6, 2000 | 11 a.m.

A federal grand jury wants to know who paid for thousands of fliers depicting Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone as a pawn of neighborhood casino companies.

A subpoena delivered to Passkey Systems on Tuesday commands Las Vegas' largest direct mail company to produce its records related to a recent mass mailing containing a caricature of the commissioner, pockets stuffed with cash, and the words, "You Just Can't Trust Lance Malone."

Passkey attorney John Boyer said he did not know what allegations the grand jury is investigating and he is weighing how to respond. And federal prosecutors declined to comment on the subpoena, which asked for Passkey's invoices, contracts and canceled checks related to the flier.

Boyer and American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada officials questioned the timing of the subpoena. It was issued March 31, three days after Malone delayed his civil lawsuit demanding Passkey reveal who paid for the fliers to be mailed to his constituents.

"My concern is that the same materials requested by Lance Malone in the state suit were the materials requested in the subpoena," Boyer said. "There is a strong possibility Mr. Malone knew somebody was investigating this as a criminal matter."

Malone, who faces re-election in November, referred questions to his attorney Don Campbell, a former federal prosecutor. Campbell declined comment on the criminal probe.

Malone's civil case is based on a Nevada law banning unidentified political literature or advertising with the exception of material funded by a private individual.

ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein speculated that the federal grand jury might be investigating the matter because the mailers were distributed by the U.S. Postal Service.

The grand jury subpoena is the latest fallout from a County Commission vote approving a casino in the Spring Valley section of unincorporated Clark County.

After promising to vote against the project, Malone provided the swing vote for the casino in the 3-2 decision Jan. 19. That angered neighborhood groups and executives with Station Casinos, the neighborhood gambling corporation that lobbied heavily against the project.

That vote was reversed by the review panel of the state Gaming Policy Committee last month. Boyd Gaming and Triple Five Nevada, the corporations that own the casino property and surrounding land, plan to appeal the commission's decision in court.