Judge demands seized files in club raid

Jace Radke

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

U.S. Magistrate Peggy Leen has ordered that original copies of documents taken by FBI agents from the Crazy Horse Too topless club be turned over to her, so she can determine if the seized items fall within the scope of a search warrant.

At issue are files that attorneys for club owner Rick Rizzolo say contain privileged legal documents. The documents were seized during a Feb. 20 raid of the Crazy Horse in connection with an FBI investigation into possible ties between the club and organized crime.

Anthony Sgro, Rizzolo's attorney, said that portions of civil case files have not been returned to the club, and that the government is holding on to the original copies of some of the seized items to justify the highly publicized raid of the club.

"They made a pretty big splash with 100 agents raiding the club," Sgro said Wednesday. "They've done a lot of shuffling around, and now I think they find themselves between a rock and a hard place." At a March 6 hearing Leen ordered the government to turn over legal documents to the club, but Sgro and Thomas Scorza, Rizzolo's Chicago-based attorney, said that portions of files relating to civil cases filed against the club have not been returned.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson, who heads the Las Vegas Organized Crime Strike Force, said that every document requested by the club has been made available, and that he followed Leen's March 6 order to the best of his ability.

Johnson said that he thought the order applied only to specific items that Sgro and club manager Albert Rapuano had requested.

Johnson added that the government wants to keep the original documents and that agents were allowed to take the items.

"The originals are relevant to the government's pending investigation," Johnson said. "Court filings and correspondences that relate to incidents involving customer problems at the club ... falls within the scope of the warrant.

"It isn't like we tried at any time to hide."

The club is asking that the original copies of the documents be returned and that two FBI agents be held in contempt for not revealing at the March 6 hearing that they reviewed documents that Sgro says are privileged.

Among the incomplete files that the club wants back is one relating to a lawsuit filed by a Kansas City man who alleges that his neck was broken in a September 2001 altercation with a bouncer at the Crazy Horse. The suit, filed by Kirk Henry in Clark County District Court, is pending.

Another original file related to a lawsuit by the family of a California man found dead near the club in August 1995 is also being requested by Sgro. The family of Scott Fau alleged that he was beaten to death by the club's bouncers. In January a jury sided with the club in the case.

"What (the government) wound up not giving back are the cases they are working on in their criminal investigation," Scorza said.

No criminal charges have been filed against Rizzolo in connection with the FBI's investigation, but an affidavit used to get the search warrant to search the club remains sealed.

Johnson brought more than 10 boxes of documents seized in the raid to Wednesday's daylong hearing that saw testimony from Rapuano and FBI Special Agent Robert Clymer, who is heading up the investigation into the club.

Among the boxes was one marked, "Cusumano file" in large, black-ink letters.

Sgro said the file contained public documents relating to a 1991 lawsuit involving Joseph Cusumano, an alleged loan shark and Chicago mob associate, and Cusumano's former lawyer.

"We have a feeling they were putting on a show," Sgro said. "The stuff in that box is all public record that anyone can go down to the courthouse and see."

Authorities have long suspected Rizzolo of having ongoing ties to Cusumano, though Rizzolo denies it. Cusumano is listed in the Nevada Black Book, a list of people banned from the state's casinos.

Leen said she would review the documents in question and would issue a written order when she is finished.