Walters case going back to Judge Mosley

Bill Gang

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000 | 11:17 a.m.

The money laundering case against politically connected gambler and golf course entrepreneur Billy Walters and three others is going back to District Judge Donald Mosley, who twice before dismissed nearly identical indictments.

Chief District Judge Lee Gates ruled today that because the third indictment handed down Nov. 19 was based on the same facts and underlying events as the first two, it would be improper "forum shopping" to assign it to a different judge.

Deputy Attorney General David Thompson said when the indictment was returned that it was a completely different case than the first two, so Gates originally assigned it randomly to District Judge Michael Douglas.

Thompson explained today that while the facts are the same, the third indictment charges a series of individual acts rather than the grand conspiracy that was alleged in the first two.

The latest indictment charges Walters, Jimmie Jay Hanley, computer expert Daniel Pray and New Yorker John Tognino with transporting the proceeds from illegal sports betting in and out of Nevada.

Walters, Hanley and Pray are free without bail. Tognino has not yet been arrested on the warrant issued when the indictment was returned Nov. 19. While the attorney general's office has contended that Mosley may be biased because of a close personal friendship with Hanley's attorney, John Moran Jr., the judge said that issue can only be addressed through a petition to dismiss Mosley once the case gets back to his courtroom.

Gates said that would give Mosley a chance to answer the allegations and testify at a disqualification hearing.

The charges allege that Walters headed a multimillion dollar illegal sports betting operation and unlawfully transferred gambling proceeds throughout the country and even overseas.

Mosley had dismissed the first two indictments because of what he said were procedural and legal problems, although the first indictment was ordered reinstated by the Nevada Supreme Court. A decision in the high court on the second indictment is pending.

Walters' attorney, Richard Wright, argued that the third indictment is a "superceding indictment" and should go back to Mosley under court rules and Gates agreed.

The third money laundering indictment, like the others, alleges the betting operation funneled money and information to and from illegal bookmakers across the country through his Sierra Sports Inc., using a bank of computers and telephone lines.