Galardi strip club closed after losing in court

Erica D. Johnson and Christina Littlefield

Monday, Dec. 22, 2003 | 9:50 a.m.

Would-be customers arriving at Jaguars topless nightclub this morning were greeted with a sign telling them that the business that lost its liquor license last week was closed.

The sign on the front door of the establishment at 3355 Procyon St. read: "Jaguars will be closed through the holidays. We hope you have a happy holiday season!!"

A Sun reporter at the scene this morning found an unlocked front door and walked inside. It was pitch black and no employees were there. There also was no visible sign of security.

However, a man in his mid-20s, who spoke little English, was in the building. The man asked the reporter where the strippers were. Upon being told by the reporter the club was closed, the man and reporter left the building.

The Sun called the nightclub owner's lawyer, Dominic Gentile, and told him about the unsecured building.

A District Court judge on Friday had postponed a decision about whether to issue a temporary restraining order preventing Clark County from revoking the club's liquor license. Gentile said that led to the decision to close the club Friday night.

"We are going to file a supplemental brief today presenting additional authority (information) to the court," Gentile said. "But as it now stands we are shut down."

The decision to close, he said, was because the place "was dying -- no business at all" since attempts were made to make it a "juice bar" for a couple of days last week after the license was taken away.

Gentile said he was hopeful that the additional information of cases in which other courts have granted relief to bars stripped of their liquor licenses would be enough to get Jaguars reopened.

Gentile said about 500 independently contracted dancers worked in shifts at the club as did about 50 paid staff, which included waitresses, bartenders and general management.

The parking lot of Jaguars today was practically empty, with about a half-dozen cars parked in a far corner indicating they perhaps belonged to employees of a neighboring industrial complex.

A GMC sport utility vehicle with Jaguars logos and advertising painted on it and a silver Mercedes Benz were parked in the back, but the back doors to the building were locked.

The Clark County Commission last week revoked the liquor license for the Leopard Lounge and Jaguars, the topless clubs formerly owned by Michael Galardi.

In an emergency hearing Friday, Gentile, attorney for Jack Galardi, Galardi's father, asked District Judge Jennifer Togliatti to issue a temporary injunction that would stop the county from enforcing its ruling.

After hearing lengthy arguments from both sides, Togliatti said she would delay ruling on the matter until Dec. 23.

She gave Clark County Deputy District Attorney Kathleen Janssen until then to provide the court with a written argument opposing Gentile's motion.

Togliatti also refused to issue a stay preventing the revocation from being enforced until the next hearing.

Gentile told Togliatti that her decision to put the ruling off would cause unnecessary hardship for employees at the strip club who work for tips.

No one wants to go into a non-alcoholic topless club, he said.

"The people that lose here are the people who are not going to be able to buy their kids any presents because they are not making any money," he said.

Outside court, Gentile said no one at the club had been fired since the revocation but that several employees were forced to quit because they could no longer make a decent living.

When asked if he had considered taking his battle to federal court, Gentile responded, "Oh, you bet we're thinking about it."

Jaguars and Michael Galardi are at the center of a federal public corruption case in Las Vegas. Galardi is also at the center of a probe in San Diego.

Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and former Clark County Commissioners Dario Herrera and Lance Malone have all been indicted in connection with the probe, while former Commissioner Erin Kenny has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and is cooperating with authorities.

The younger Galardi pleaded guilty to federal charges in the corruption probe in Las Vegas and San Diego, and that makes him unsuitable to hold the liquor licenses, county officials said.

The county also claims a temporary liquor license cannot be granted to Jack Galardi because the underlying license that belonged to Michael Galardi is not in good standing.

During Friday's hearing, Gentile and Jack Galardi's other attorney, Suzanne Coe, argued that because the liquor license is tied to the adult cabaret license in county regulations, the county is infringing on the owner's First Amendment rights.

Gentile said the county's own definition of a cabaret is a topless dancing component plus liquor. The entire ordinance is dependant upon the liquor license, he said.

"The county's laws are so contradictory and their positions keep changing that I don't know what our rights are," Coe said.

Gentile said the county went after the club's liquor license instead of its adult cabaret license because removal of the cabaret license would require an automatic 14-day stay of the proceedings for a judicial review.

But Janssen argued that Galardi had no right to a temporary restraining order.

"The county has their rights in terms of being able to enforce their liquor license," she said.

Janssen said the club technically is currently operating without any licenses because the licenses were not ever properly transferred from Michael Galardi to his father.

She said she had only on Thursday received applications for the proper licenses.

Janssen said the county is not currently trying to revoke Jaguars' adult cabaret license and that when it does, it would do so through a court hearing and follow the laws of due process.

"The county recognizes that we can't close down the topless portion yet," she said. "Women are still dancing topless, that's a fact."

Coe accused the county of taking "cheap shots" at the establishment's owners.

"'Theoretically, this business could be out of an adult cabaret license for months and months," she said. "Their position constantly changes. The only remedy is to stay the procedure."