Galardi receives target letter from FBI

Jace Radke

Thursday, June 5, 2003 | 9:47 a.m.

Topless club owner Michael Galardi has received a target letter from the FBI as part of an ongoing investigation into political corruption.

Peter S. Christiansen, the attorney representing Galardi, said that he got his first look at the letter Wednesday and isn't sure when his client received it.

Galardi and his father, Jack Galardi, own Jaguars and Cheetahs in Las Vegas and Cheetahs in San Diego. All three clubs were raided by the FBI on May 14 after a two-year investigation into possible political corruption.

According to one of the search warrants served during the raids, authorities were looking for documentation of payments or gifts from the Galardis to: Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald; County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey or her husband, Robert Chauncey; former County Commissioner Erin Kenny or her husband, John Kenny; and former County Commissioner Dario Herrera or his wife, Emily.

Lawyers for Kincaid-Chauncey and Kenny have said their clients also received "target letters." Herrera and his lawyer, Eric Goodman, have refused to say whether Herrera received one of the letters, but search warrants were served at Herrera's home. McDonald and his attorney, Richard Wright, have said that McDonald is not a target in the investigation but is considered a subject of the investigation.

Another central figure in the investigation is former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone, a former Metro Police officer who went to work for the Galardis as a lobbyist after he was voted off the commission in 2000.

Malone was not named in the search warrants and he and his attorney, Don Campbell, said they have refused to cooperate with the FBI in the case.