Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004 | 11:16 a.m.
More than 50 developers and politicians contacted by the Sun on Monday said they had not received letters from the FBI advising them that they appear on wiretap intercepts in an ongoing political corruption probe.
Earlier this month the FBI sent out more than 300 letters to those who are featured on more than 70,000 intercepts in Las Vegas as part of a federal investigation into the alleged bribing of Clark County Commissioners by strip club owner Michael Galardi, an FBI supervisor told the Sun. Another 50,000 wiretap intercepts were compiled in San Diego from phone conversations involving the San Diego City Council members and Galardi or his representatives.
Trials are pending in San Diego and Clark County. In Clark County, one current commissioner and two former commissioners have been indicted while Galardi as well as former county commissioner Erin Kenny have agreed to plead guilty in connection with the case and are required to cooperate with authorities as part of their plea agreements.
The FBI now is saying that the taped conversations in Clark County indicated public corruption beyond the strip club issues, in matters related to land development, and, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kevin Caudle told the Sun, said numerous politicians and developers have been sent the letters advising them that their voices are on the tapes compiled as part of the investigation.
The Sun contacted all of the state's constitutional officers or their representatives, more than half of the state's legislators, and many Clark County Commission members and Southern Nevada city council members to ask them if they've received the FBI letters.
Dozens of politicians said that they didn't receive a letter, with some expressing relief about not being connected to the investigation that has led to indictments against Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and former commissioners Lance Malone and Dario Herrera.
Not one office holder admitted receiving a letter.
"No, that's not anything I know about," said Assemblywoman Valerie Weber, R-Las Vegas. "I'm not aware of that in any way."
Others joked about not getting a letter in connection with the investigation.
"Darn, I thought I knew all the right people," said Assemblyman Josh Griffin, R-Henderson, after explaining that he had not received a letter.
A few of the valley's biggest developers -- including KB Home, the Molasky Co., Randy Black's Diversified Realty, Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming Corp. -- said that they had not received a letters from the FBI either.
The FBI is required by law to send a notice to those who are identified on the intercepts, but being on any of the more than 70,000 intercepts in Las Vegas does not mean those recorded are guilty of anything, FBI officials said.
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kevin Caudle, who is in charge of the local FBI's white collar crime unit, told the Sun that his office has gotten very few phone calls from those who letters were sent to.
Charles Kelly, a former federal prosecutor who now works as a local defense attorney, said he didn't find it unusual that those who received letters aren't burning up the FBI's phone lines with calls.
"It's a pretty rudimentary thing that when there is a wiretap you have to make notice of it," Kelly said. "Developers have money and lawyers, who have probably told their clients this is something that happens.
"The people that got letters probably feel that they've done nothing wrong and don't need to worry about it."
Clark County Commissioners Lynette Boggs-McDonald and Chip Maxfield have not received a letter, a county spokesman said. Las Vegas City Councilwoman Janet Moncrief said she had not gotten a letter. Other commissioners and council members did not return calls Monday.
Former Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald said that he had been out of town and had not checked his mail. The state's constitutionally elected officials all said they had not received a letter, including Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Brian Sandoval.
Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said he has not heard of the letter yet.
"None of my folks have mentioned one, and I'm usually the first one they call," he said.
Perkins, however, said he wouldn't be surprised if some of the Democratic members of the Assembly were taped during the investigation because they often work with county commissioners on public policy issues. Harmless conversations, he said, sometimes are taped "depending on which phones are tapped."
The agents refused to disclose the names of any developers or other politicians being looked at as targets in the ongoing investigation.
The letters were sent as the FBI shifted its focus toward investigating developers and other politicians not named in connection with the probe to this point for accepting money and gifts for political favors.
When the investigation began nearly two years prior to the release of the indictments last November, agents were concentrating on the alleged ties between the commissioners and Galardi, but as they listened to more and more wiretapped recordings a bigger picture came into focus, Caudle said.
The intercepts allegedly contain evidence that Kincaid-Chauncey, Herrera and Malone took thousands of dollars from Galardi in exchange for their votes and influence over matters involving three Las Vegas strip clubs Galardi owned at the time, Cheetahs, Jaguars and Leopard Lounge.
The indictment charges Kincaid-Chauncey, Herrera and Malone with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and 14 counts each of wire fraud. In addition Malone was charged with racketeering, Herrera faces eight counts of extortion, and Kincaid-Chauncey faces four extortion counts.
In plea agreements Kenny admitted to taking money from Galardi through Malone, and Galardi admitted to funneling $200,000 to $400,000 to commissioners. Galardi's plea agreement says the club owner tried to bribe public officials between 1994 and 2003, but the indictment only focuses on events from 1999 to 2003.
Prosecutors say the commissioners voted to change an ordinance regulating the touching at strip clubs, changed zoning ordinances and made other efforts to help Galardi's clubs.
Sun reporters Dan Kulin, Kirsten Searer, Sito Negron, Cy Ryan, Molly Ball, Jeff Simpson and Christina Littlefield contributed to this story
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