Columnist Jeff German: San Diego verdicts ominous

Tuesday, July 19, 2005 | 10:54 a.m.

Former County Commissioners Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey weren't on trial in San Diego, but they are among the losers in the aftermath of Monday's political corruption convictions there.

They now must face their own corruption charges in Las Vegas knowing that the federal government has been able to prove a bribery case in court with the help of the same man who accused them of wrongdoing, former strip club mogul Michael Galardi.

A San Diego federal jury Monday convicted the city's acting mayor, Michael Zucchet, and Councilman Ralph Inzunza of taking bribes from Galardi in an attempt to repeal a local ordinance that banned topless dancers and patrons from touching each other.

Galardi's so-called "bagman" from Las Vegas, former County Commissioner Lance Malone, was also convicted.

And this was supposed to be the weakest of the two criminal cases.

"It's a good reminder that the house is always a favorite," says veteran Las Vegas attorney Stan Hunterton, a former federal prosecutor.

Hunterton explains that the verdicts say more about the power of court-approved wiretaps than Galardi's credibility, which was vigorously attacked by defense lawyers during the trial.

"I never lost a case as a prosecutor when I had the defendant's voice on tape," Hunterton says. "There's just no equivocation. You listen to those things in court and everybody sounds guilty."

What makes the future ominous for Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey is that the wiretaps in the Las Vegas case are said to be more damning to the defendants.

The tapes have been described by those in the know as "brutal," with little room for sugarcoating.

"You've got to like the government's position in Las Vegas better than in San Diego," Hunterton says.

Federal prosecutors here don't even need to call Galardi to the witness stand.

They've enlisted the help of former County Commissioner Erin Kenny, who served with Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey, to corroborate the wiretaps. Kenny has already pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against her former colleagues.

That would include Malone, the man in the middle, who's also facing corruption charges in the Las Vegas case.

Kenny's greed leaps out at you on the wiretaps, which means she's likely to be a powerful witness. In one secretly recorded conversation with Malone, she appears desperate for cash from Galardi.

"Tell me what I've got to do, but I've gotta have money from him," Kenny says. "I'm begging now ... I'm on my knees begging."

But it is Malone -- who allegedly helped Kenny satisfy her craving for cash -- who may be doing the begging now.

With his conviction in San Diego, he has plenty of incentive to strike a deal in Las Vegas -- that is if federal prosecutors are still eager to obtain his cooperation.

"You've got to say the government is in the driver's seat in terms of any negotiations," Hunterton says. "Malone lost a substantial opportunity here."

Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey, meanwhile, have to be hoping that Malone doesn't end up cooperating with prosecutors.

If he does, they could become bigger losers in the future.