Friday, Nov. 7, 2003 | 9:34 a.m.
The federal indictments Thursday of Clark County Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and former Commissioner Dario Herrera on extortion charges and former Commissioner Lance Malone on racketeering charges adds another chapter to a litany of corruption investigations in Las Vegas and in the state.
Nevada entered the union as a state in 1864 within the first five years had its first corruption scandal.
In 1869 state officials discovered after his death that the first state treasurer, Evan Rhoades, had been embezzling from the state school lands fund. The case resulted in reforms that created a second state officer responsible for the public coffers.
"Right from the beginning as a state we were confronted by malfeasance in office," state Archivist Guy Rocha said.
What follows is a look at some of the other notable cases:
"There is no doubt in my mind to this day that I was set up," Echols, the only one of the four still living, told the Sun in a previous story, recalling Yobo in light of the strip club raids.
Echols, a former North Las Vegas mayor and a state senator for 10 years, pleaded guilty in 1984 to taking $1,000 from an FBI agent posing as a representative of Arizona chiropractors who wanted to set up local land deals. Echols sold real estate after a brief prison term and then retired.
Wilson, the first black elected to the Nevada Legislature and the second black to serve on the County Commission, pleaded guilty to accepting a $5,000 bribe from an undercover FBI agent the day Echols entered his plea. He was given probation. He died Christmas Day 1999 at age 84.
Petitti, who served 12 years on the North Las Vegas City Council and 12 years on the County Commission, was convicted of taking a $5,000 bribe from an FBI agent posing as a developer of a fat farm on Mount Charleston. He served six months in prison and died in November 2000 at age 81.
Lamb, who served 27 years in the state Senate, was convicted in 1983 of accepting $20,000 from an undercover agent in exchange for a promise to help arrange a state loan to help purchase a Reno casino. He served eight months in prison. He died in June at age 87.
For his second trial federal prosecutors dropped the bribery charges and Claiborne was found guilty of tax evasion. He later was impeached and removed from office. He went back to his law practice, which he continues today.
Ahlstrom, now the county public administrator, at the time said: "Life makes beginners out of all of us. I'll just start over as a beginner."
The case nevertheless took a "terrible toll" on Bongiovanni, his attorney Tom Pitaro said. Bongiovanni was voted out of office in the 1996 primary after serving one term on the bench.
Bongiovanni said after the verdict he had no desire to return to the bench but instead would go back to being a lawyer. However, he ran last year for the newly created District Court Department 21 seat won by Valerie Adair.
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