Columnist Jeff German: Galardi makes deal of a lifetime

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2003 | 10:59 a.m.

From the looks of things, Mike Galardi has cut a sweet deal with the government.

On Monday the wealthy strip club mogul, charged in a 39-count federal corruption indictment, agreed to cooperate with the government. He pleaded guilty in San Diego to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a scheme to bribe three San Diego councilmen.

The charge draws a maximum $250,000 fine and five years in prison. But defense lawyers familiar with this kind of a deal say there is a good chance Galardi will see two years or less behind bars after he is through providing testimony against the three councilmen and anyone else federal prosecutors are looking to nail, including elected officials in Las Vegas.

Prosecutors accumulated two years' worth of court-approved wiretaps in their investigations into political corruption in San Diego and Las Vegas. If you read the indictment, they have Galardi on tape making very incriminating statements.

For some reason, however, they still felt the need to give Galardi, the man who set off the scandals in both cities, the break of a lifetime.

The question is, will it be worth it?

Prosecutors are taking a gamble that rooting out public corruption is worth more than sending a strip club owner to rot in prison.

But it comes at a steep price. Probably the sweetest part of the deal is that federal prosecutors appear content to allow Galardi to either keep or sell his lucrative topless clubs. His 14-page plea agreement makes no mention of having to give up the clubs, which are worth millions of dollars.

Prosecutors have put off Galardi's sentencing until he fulfills all of his end of the deal. That could be a few years away.

As Galardi assists prosecutors, he's likely to have plenty of time to take care of his personal and business affairs before thinking about doing a brief stint behind bars.

If Galardi can prove the prosecution's case and hand the government a string of convictions, the prosecution's gamble will pay off. But first it has to survive scrutiny from defense lawyers in court.

Attorney Dominic Gentile, who represents former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone, a Galardi lobbyist also charged in the San Diego indictment, says he isn't impressed with anything Galardi might have to offer against Malone.

"By the time we get to trial, there won't be any doubt that Galardi made a deal with the government to save his property," Gentile says. "I would much rather cross-examine him than have to sit next to him in a courtroom."

When the dust settles in this case, Gentile probably won't be the only one shaking his head over the government's decision to give Mike Galardi a break.

There are plenty of reasons to question whether he deserves it.

But it will be a fair trade if it rids the system -- even for a little while -- of public corruption.