San Diego-Vegas cases vary in scope

Friday, Nov. 7, 2003 | 10:10 a.m.

Although the same strip club owner is at the center of parallel political corruption indictments in Las Vegas and San Diego, there are as many differences as similarities between the cases.

Both sets of federal indictments center on allegations that public officials illegally accepted money to help Las Vegas businessman Michael Galardi, who owns strip clubs in both Southern Nevada and San Diego.

Both cases involve current officeholders who say they are innocent and insist on keeping their positions.

In Las Vegas, that's the case with indicted Clark County Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, who was indicted Thursday. In San Diego, City Councilmen Ralph Inzunza, Charles Lewis and Michael Zucchet, who were indicted on Aug. 28, have also kept their seats and have vowed to fight the charges against them.

All four of those officials also happen to be Democrats, which means that the Democratic Party has the most to lose if they are all convicted and forced to step down. All have been charged with participating in efforts to relax adult entertainment ordinances to benefit Galardi.

But there are also the following differences:

Malone, a lobbyist for Galardi, pleaded not guilty to wire fraud, racketeering and extortion charges in connection with the San Diego probe. But Galardi has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the San Diego case and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Galardi also pleaded guilty on Oct. 24 to violating the federal racketeering law.

In terms of disruption to ongoing government business, one could argue that convictions would have more impact in San Diego, where three of nine councilmen are involved, than in Clark County, where only one of seven commissioners has been indicted.

In measuring the potential impact of the probe in both communities, all bets are off if indictments extend locally to dealings with developers, as has been speculated by some law enforcement and political observers.

Kincaid-Chauncey is 65 and a veteran politician who is thought to have already achieved her highest political ambition as a member of the county commission.

The San Diego councilmen have said that all of the money they received from Galardi and associates -- allegedly more than $25,000 combined -- was legally reported on their campaign contribution forms. But Galardi admitted concealing the source of campaign contributions made to the councilmen.

There is speculation in San Diego that if the councilmen go to trial, they will attempt to argue that any dealings they may have had with Galardi reflected the way business is normally conducted in San Diego under that city's campaign contribution laws. In that sense, San Diego's campaign finance laws could face more scrutiny both in court and at San Diego City Hall.

In the Las Vegas case, the alleged payoffs were far broader. Galardi is alleged to have funneled money, property and services to the local politicians. This included not only campaign contributions but lap dances, female escorts, vehicles, ski school tuition and cash payments not related to campaigns.

In Las Vegas, the alleged favors for Galardi were also far broader in scope. They included changing an ordinance to increase the distance between strip clubs from 500 to 1,000 feet, issuance of a liquor license and zoning permits for Galardi's Jaguars nightclub, lifting a construction ban for Jaguars, harassing Galardi competitors, and action on other strip club ordinances.

George Togliatti, former head of the FBI's organized crime squad in Las Vegas and now vice president of government and community relations for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., said the Las Vegas and San Diego cases will be tried on their own merits rather than as parts of a connected probe.

"They're apples and oranges," he said. "They may have some common denominators but I don't think one case will affect the other."