Galardi must keep hands off Jaguars strip club

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

Clark County commissioners on Tuesday gave a green light for the new operators of a strip club to continue in the business but did not immediately decide on the fate of a politically touchy operation nearby.

Rich Gonzales and Randy Miller, operators of Jaguars, a club once owned by strip-club impresario Michael Galardi, received approval from the commission by a 5-0 vote to continue as operators of the club.

The commission passed on deciding whether the actual owner of the club, Michael Galardi's father, Jack Galardi, was appropriate as a landlord.

The commission also agreed to give Jack Galardi and his attorneys another 30 days to review a Metro Police report on the older Galardi's fitness to run another club in unincorporated Clark County, Leopard Lounge off Naples Drive. Lawyer Dominic Gentile noted that it took a year for Metro to gather information in the report, and he asked for at least 60 days for Galardi's team to do its own investigation.

Likely issues in the Metro report would include the arrest of employees at Galardi's clubs in Florida on prostitution-related charges.

Michael Galardi agreed two years ago to cooperate with federal investigators who tied him to alleged payments to local officials in California and Nevada, including at least four sitting or former Clark County commissioners.

Jack Galardi bought out his son after the indictments and still runs Cheetahs within the Las Vegas city limits.

Although he owns the building on Procyon Street, Jack Galardi, according to an attorney for Gonzales and Miller, would not be welcome as a customer and would not reap any direct benefit from alcohol sales or the adult-oriented entertainment offered at the club.

"There's a complete separation of entities," Paul Larsen, attorney for Gonzales and Miller, told the commission. "He (Jack Galardi) has no operational involvement in the club whatsoever."

Metro Detective Stacy Rodd agreed. He said police found "no arrangement other than a landlord-tenant relationship."

Gonzales and Miller took over operation of Jaguars in January 2004. Both Leopards and Jaguars have been operating on month-to-month extensions from the county since January 2004.

Business and Licensing Director Jacqueline Holloway suggested, and the board accepted, a six-month review of Jaguars operations to ensure that Jack Galardi maintained an arms-length relationship with Gonzales and Miller.