Walters again facing money-laundering charges

Kim Smith

Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002 | 11:23 a.m.

Golf course developer Billy Walters is once again facing money-laundering charges after a five-count indictment handed down four years ago was unsealed Wednesday.

Chief Criminal Deputy Attorney General Gerald Gardner said that all of the attorneys in the case agreed to unseal the indictment Wednesday during a hearing before Chief District Judge Mark Gibbons.

The attorneys also agreed to allow Gibbons to preside over the case after it was randomly assigned to him.

On Aug. 27 Gibbons will either schedule an initial arraignment date for the defendants or set up a briefing schedule so the attorneys can argue in writing the merits of proceeding with the case or dismissing it.

Despite the case's tortuous history, Gardner said he is ready to go forward.

"We have believed in the merits of the case from the beginning, but because of procedural reasons or other reasons we had problems getting the indictment up and running," Gardner said.

"Because we have an order of remand from the Supreme Court instructing us to seek further proceedings on the first indictment, we feel we have an obligation to seek the resolution of this case."

On Dec. 7, 1996, authorities seized about $3 million in cash in lock boxes that belonged to Walters. The money is still being held in an interest-bearing account.

Walters, a politically connected businessman, and three associates, Daniel Pray, James Hanley and John Tognino of New York, were accused of unlawfully transferring proceeds from a massive sports betting operation throughout the country and overseas.

The April 1998 indictment unsealed Wednesday was the first of three indictments dismissed by the lower courts because of alleged defects, but the Nevada Supreme Court eventually ordered it to be reinstated.

Walters' attorney, Richard Wright, was unavailable for comment Wednesday because he was preparing for today's ethics battle involving Councilman Michael Mack, said his business partner Bruce Judd.

Attorney JoNell Thomas, who represents Pray, said the maneuvering that has been done by the state in the case has been "incredibly unfair" to all of the defendants.

Most people in Walters' position would probably have "folded" by now simply because of a lack of resources to fight the state, Thomas said.

Aside from death penalty cases, Thomas said she knows of no other criminal cases that have been fought this long.

"This litigation has been going on for nearly six years. The state has had three valid chances and at some point in time you have to say 'enough is enough,' " Thomas said.