State AG to proceed with case vs. Walters

Tuesday, July 9, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The attorney general's office has served notice it will proceed with the original prosecution of Las Vegas gambler-businessman Billy Walters on money laundering charges that were brought more than four years ago.

Chief Criminal Deputy Attorney General Gerald Gardner said Monday a hearing has been set for Aug. 14 before District Judge Mark Gibbons to unseal the April 30, 1998, indictment against Walters, which stems from the gambler's involvement in a multi-million-dollar sports betting operation.

He said he hoped an arraignment date could be scheduled for the case to go forward. The indictment "needs to be processed," he said. "It just can't sit there."

But Richard Wright, Walters' attorney, said the indictment was defective and there would be motions argued to dismiss it before any trial is scheduled.

He noted that Gibbons is running for the Nevada Supreme Court unopposed and District Attorney Stewart Bell is seeking that District Court seat. Bell has disqualified himself in this case and sent it to the Attorney General's Office.

"I guess it (the case) will get reassigned," Wright said.

On Dec. 7, 1996, authorities seized some $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 golf course developer, and two of his associates, Daniel Pray and James Hanley, were accused of unlawfully transferring proceeds from the massive sports betting operation throughout the country and overseas.

The first indictment was dismissed in District Court as being defective. It later was reinstated by the Nevada Supreme Court and has been sitting under seal in District Court.

The Attorney General's Office secured two subsequent indictments, which were ruled defective, but never reinstated.

Wright said he was surprised the attorney general's office was still pursuing the case.

Walters has accused the attorney general's office of mounting a "witchhunt" against him.

Gardner, who was appointed to chief of the criminal division in April, was asked to take a fresh look at the case after the Supreme Court ruled the third indictment was void. Deputy Attorney General David Thompson of Reno handled the case in the past.

"It looks like a new deck hand," Wright said of Gardner's role in the case.

Sun reporter Jeff German contributed to this story.