Del Papa says Walters case still alive

Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2001 | 9:39 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Despite two losses in the Nevada Supreme Court, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa isn't giving up her five-year fight to prosecute Las Vegas gambler-businessman Billy Walters on bookmaking and illegal betting charges.

Walters' attorney, Richard Wright, said he was not surprised.

"Vindictiveness runs deep," he said. "After five years of fighting them (the attorney general's office) on this, I was cautiously optimistic. But a leopard doesn't change its spots."

Said Del Papa, "We're not dropping anything."

Del Papa said indictments are still alive, though Wright called them legally defective.

Del Papa on Tuesday denied she was pursuing the case simply to harass Walters.

"We didn't go looking for this case," she said, adding that the attorney general's office took it over because of a conflict of interest in the Clark County district attorney's office.

The Nevada Supreme Court last week ruled there was only marginal evidence to support the third indictment against Walters and two of his associates -- Daniel Pray and James Hanley -- who have been accused of being involved in a multimillion dollar illegal sports betting operation and unlawfully transferring gambling proceeds throughout the country and overseas.

The high court upheld a decision by District Judge Mark Gibbons, who threw out the indictment.

Del Papa initially said that a request for the Supreme Court to again hear the case has not been ruled out. However, Chief Criminal Deputy Attorney General David Sarnowski on Tuesday said the state would not ask for reconsideration.

Wright said it would have been "laughable" for the attorney general's office to ask for a re-hearing because all seven justices concurred in the result.

That leaves two cases alive. The first indictment was dismissed by District Judge Donald Mosley, but the Supreme Court later reinstated it, and the indictment remains in limbo.

Walters was indicted a second time, but that was dismissed by Mosley. The Supreme Court ruled the second indictment was moot because the attorney general's office received a third indictment on the same allegations. It also dismissed that indictment.

Del Papa has asked for a re-hearing on the second indictment. Sarnowski said that since the third indictment has been dismissed, the second indictment is no longer moot and the court should allow it to be revived.

The key issue on the second indictment, he said, is whether storing money in casino lock boxes by Walters to allegedly run his operation is money laundering, Sarnowski said.

Wright said both the first and the second indictments are legally defective. If the Supreme Court refuses to grant a re-hearing on the second indictment, than the first indictment should be tossed out.

But Sarnowski said if the Supreme Court merely refuses to grant a re-hearing on the second indictment, the first indictment remains alive.

Del Papa also said that her office had nothing to do with the seizure of $2.8 million in lock boxes at casinos in Las Vegas. Rather, it was Metro Police.

Wright said the money is being held in an interest-bearing account and any effort by police to forfeit the money is held in abeyance while the case is pending. He has made a motion to have the money returned, and an attorney for the police has opposed that motion.