Kenny listed as defendant in criminal case

Jace Radke and Jeff German

Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

Former Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny is listed as a defendant in a federal criminal case, and people familiar with an ongoing FBI probe into possible political corruption say she is cooperating with federal agents.

The case against Kenny, filed in July, is sealed, but a source close to the investigation did not deny the case is connected to the corruption probe that came to light with raids at local strip clubs in May.

The U.S. attorney's office has not announced any charges against Kenny or anyone else in connection with the corruption probe though a grand jury has been considering the case for months.

Kenny could not be reached for comment, and her attorney Frank Cremen declined comment on the case this morning.

A source said that Kenny called friends Tuesday acknowledging wrongdoing, and she told her friends that what they had been reading about her was true. There have been recent reports that investigators have tapes of Kenny discussing hiding $200,000 in an off-shore bank account.

Defense lawyers with clients connected to the corruption probe believe Kenny is cooperating with FBI agents.

One of them is attorney Dominic Gentile, who represents former County Commissioner Lance Malone, a central figure in the corruption probe.

"I have no doubt that she's cooperating," Gentile said. "It's pretty clear."

He wouldn't elaborate.

An FBI investigation into alleged political corruption connecting public officials in San Diego and Las Vegas with topless clubs became public when federal agents conducted searches in both cities on May 14.

Agents executed search warrants at Jaguars and Cheetahs, Las Vegas topless clubs owned by Michael Galardi. The downtown offices of Galardi Enterprises were also raided. In San Diego agents raided the City Hall offices of Councilmen Ralph Inzunza, Charles Lewis and Michael Zucchet, as well as Galardi's Cheetahs nightclub there.

In the Las Vegas raid, FBI agents were looking for records of payments or gifts to former County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, former commissioners Dario Herrera and Kenny and former Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald. Also named in the warrant was Kincaid-Chauncey's husband, Robert Chauncey, Herrera's wife, Emily Herrera, and Kenny's husband, John Kenny.

Kenny and Kincaid-Chauncey have been told they are targets of the FBI investigation.

FBI agents recently searched Herrera's home and business, but he has maintained that he is not a target of the ongoing two-year FBI probe into alleged political influence wielded by strip club owners.

So has McDonald, a former Metro Police officer, who was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury investigating the case on June 10. After the FBI raids, McDonald acknowledged that he had been working as a consultant to Michael Galardi.

Galardi, through his attorney Peter S. Christiansen, has acknowledged that he has been told that he is a target of the investigation.

Malone's name did not appear on the search warrants executed at the clubs. Like the others, Malone has denied wrongdoing.

Malone has worked as a consultant for Galardi on projects in Las Vegas and San Diego since he left office in 2000.