Affidavits aimed at exposing AG probe

Tuesday, March 14, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

Five former gaming regulators have signed sworn affidavits urging a district judge to unseal documents that may show the attorney general's office wrongly targeted them in a secret intelligence investigation.

Topping the list of regulators is former Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible, who was regarded as a political enemy of Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa when the probe was launched.

The four others are former Control Board member Gerald Cunningham, Rex Carlson, an ex-director of the board's electronics lab, and two former chiefs of enforcement, Ron Asher and Andy Vanyo.

The affidavits are being submitted to District Judge James Mahan as part of efforts by the Sun and KLAS Channel 8 to gain access to some 900 pages of documents recently turned over to Mike Anzalone, a former Del Papa investigator who has alleged he was forced to resign because he wouldn't participate in the intelligence probe. Anzalone has filed suit against Del Papa.

Mahan today rescheduled arguments on a motion by the news organizations seeking the documents for 9 a.m. next Tuesday.

Bible, now president of the influential Nevada Resort Association, said in his affidavit that he believes Del Papa gathered intelligence on him and his colleagues as part of the criminal investigation of Ron Harris, a former Control Board electronics expert who pleaded guilty to slot cheating in 1995.

"I feel that all documents relating to the Ron Harris investigation -- other than those, which may contain trade secrets of slot manufacturers and perhaps those resulting from his unfounded allegations about co-workers -- should be made public at this time so individuals such as myself can ascertain if they were improperly investigated under the guise of the Ron Harris investigation," Bible said.

The attorney general's office has fought the release of the documents on grounds it would violate the privacy rights of those who were investigated but never charged with a crime.

But all five former regulators said in their affidavits that they didn't believe disclosure of the documents would cause further harm to their privacy than what already has occurred as a result of public knowledge of the attorney general's investigation.

In his affidavit, Bible, the son of the late Sen. Alan Bible, D-Nev., said he believes the intelligence inquiry started prior to the August 1995 decision by Harris to plead guilty and cooperate with the attorney general's office.

Bible, who served at the helm of the Control Board from January 1989 until September 1999, said Harris raised allegations of misconduct against the very co-workers who put together the criminal case against Harris.

"After separate investigations neither the attorney general nor the Gaming Control Board could substantiate these allegations," Bible said. "I am aware of Mr. Harris' charges and am not aware of any allegations made by Ron Harris about my conduct."

Bible's words in the affidavit are his strongest since the Sun first disclosed the intelligence investigation three years ago.

Del Papa at first denied conducting the probe, but amid Anzalone's lawsuit her office has modified its position and acknowledged that some intelligence was gathered.

Bible, who just finished a two-year stint on the nine-member National Gambling Impact Study Commission, had been critical of Del Papa's office, which provides the Control Board with legal advice, prior to the intelligence investigation.

Records show the attorney general once conducted secret property and background checks on Bible.

Checks also reportedly were done on several of Bible's colleagues and friends, including Frank Schreck, a Bible friend and high-powered gaming lawyer who has raised campaign funds for the last three governors.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702) 259-4067 or by e-mail at german@lasvegassun.com.