Columnist Jeff German: Galardi’s credibility doubtful; FBI mum

Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 | 6:20 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION

December 4 - 5, 2004

So Michael Galardi, the slimy strip club operator-turned government witness, is back in the news.

We are told that, for years, before he decided to help the FBI put some corrupt politicians away, Galardi provided dozens of cops and prosecutors with comps and sexual favors at his strip joints.

Anyone with a badge supposedly got free drinks and lap dances, which is a better value -- and certainly more entertaining -- than a free meal at a local diner.

From the tone of some news reports about Galardi's claims, you'd think that Galardi was hosting daily orgies for police and prosecutors during his politically connected tenure on the topless nightclub scene.

I have no doubt, however, that some law enforcement officers took advantage of Galardi's generosity.

He wasn't the only strip club operator spreading money and favors around town before the FBI clamped down on those business practices. Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo comes to mind. The feds now are looking to return a racketeering indictment against Rizzolo and some of his top managers early in 2005.

But the fact is that, despite the sensational play the Galardi story received in some media outlets last week, much of the dirt he offered the FBI on local authorities couldn't be corroborated.

Yet the FBI, citing Justice Department guidelines on ongoing criminal investigations, is refusing to publicly confirm that.

Sheriff Bill Young said last week that agents told him they couldn't even give him the names of those on Galardi's comp list. But Young made it clear that agents privately indicated they weren't pursuing criminal wrongdoing against any officers or prosecutors.

Once again, however, Galardi's credibility came into question.

Federal authorities here began to sour on the former strip club mogul shortly after he made his deal to cooperate last year, when among those he claimed to have corrupted was Eric Johnson, the straitlaced prosecutor overseeing the corruption investigation.

An internal Justice Department investigation cleared Johnson of any impropriety and went to the unusual step of reporting that it found the credibility of Galardi, its key witness in the political probe, "to be suspect." Despite being exonerated, Johnson's days of prosecuting the corruption case were over.

Today the FBI no longer even is focusing on Galardi's claims in the corruption investigation which, so far, has resulted in criminal charges against a current county commissioner and three former commissioners.

The probe has turned to developing leads on shady developers supplied by the government's new star witness, former Commissioner Erin Kenny who, like Galardi, struck a deal to save her own hide.

But now that the comps-to-cops story has surfaced, and if it really has been blown out of proportion, you'd think that federal authorities would want to set the record straight and tell the public that local lawmen aren't as corrupt as Galardi is said to have alleged.

I think they have an obligation to do that even if it means further undermining Galardi's credibility in the federal probe.

Galardi isn't going to be an effective witness, anyway. If the cases against the commissioners ever make it to trial, prosecutors will have to thoroughly corroborate every piece of evidence from Galardi they present. Defense lawyers are champing at the bit for a crack at him in court.

In the meantime, the least the feds should do is turn over the names on Galardi's list to Bill Young and District Attorney David Roger.

Let the top elected lawmen either put the allegations to rest or discipline anyone who violated internal policies by accepting favors from Galardi.

This is the kind of story that, if left to fester without answers, can harm the integrity of everyone in law enforcement.

I thought the point of the federal corruption investigation was to shine a light on bad behavior by public servants -- not cover it up.