Friday, Oct. 3, 2003 | 11:20 a.m.
These days Michael Galardi's main goal is to avoid a long prison term on federal corruption charges.
But Clark County officials may be distracting him from that goal, as he conducts sensitive negotiations with federal prosecutors who have sought his help in incriminating current and former county commissioners.
County officials are moving aggressively to force Galardi out of the topless nightclub industry in the middle of those talks. They want to know by the end of business today whether he's making a serious effort to sell Jaguars and Leopard Lounge, the two clubs he runs in the county.
If he can't show he's serious, officials plan to schedule a hearing to revoke his licenses, and that could lead to the closing of the clubs.
"He's going to have to fish or cut bait," District Attorney David Roger says. "He should not be allowed to sit around and continue making money when he's not suitable to hold a privileged license."
Galardi pleaded guilty in San Diego three weeks ago to a wire fraud charge stemming from a conspiracy to bribe three councilmen. He now is cooperating with federal prosecutors there and in Las Vegas.
The county's hard line on the strip clubs may be one reason why we have yet to see those "imminent" corruption indictments at the federal courthouse.
Galardi's life has been complicated enough without having to deal with the fate of his clubs.
In San Diego he was told that he would end up spending 18 to 24 months in prison after he's through cooperating with the government. He's hoping to strike a deal in Las Vegas that won't result in much more prison time.
Federal indictments that were supposed to be returned here last week have been delayed in part so that Galardi can iron out a plea agreement.
At the same time, Galardi has led county officials to believe that he wants to accommodate their concerns.
On Sept. 24 Galardi's lawyer, Peter S. Christiansen, told officials that Galardi was "actively" pursuing the sale of Jaguars and Leopard Lounge and that attorney Mark Ferrario would be working to transfer the business licenses.
In a follow-up letter to Christiansen last Friday, Deputy District Attorney Kathleen Janssen said the county expected the sale to close quickly.
"Time is of the essence in this matter as Clark County is not amenable to unnecessary delays," Janssen wrote, adding she wanted a status report within a "few days."
A week now has passed without word from Galardi's lawyers, prompting Janssen to tell me she will press the lawyers today.
We know federal prosecutors have given Galardi an incentive to sell his clubs. They're insisting that he pay a hefty seven-figure fine as part of any plea agreement.
No one familiar with the plea negotiations would say whether the push for a swift sale is complicating the talks.
But the rush to close would seem to put pressure on Galardi to accept a lesser sale price, which could cause him to fight harder to scale back the fine -- which could be enough to stall the negotiations.
You won't, however, find county officials feeling sorry for a guy who may have spent countless dollars trying to corrupt the system.
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