Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Galardi points finger at LV officials

SAN DIEGO -- The former owner of a string of strip clubs in Las Vegas and San Diego took the stand in a federal corruption trial Thursday, accusing former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone of taking thousands of dollars in regular payments while still on Southern Nevada's most powerful elected board.

Testimony from Michael Galardi, who once owned Cheetahs, Jaguars and the Leopard Lounge in Las Vegas and Cheetahs in San Diego, spilled over to accusing other unnamed politicians in Las Vegas of taking bribes.

The comments came a day after U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller banned from the San Diego trial characterizations of "wholesale public corruption" of at least 17 Las Vegas officials.

"We were already paying politicians in Las Vegas, so I figured we could do the same in San Diego," Galardi said.

Galardi's comments about Las Vegas officials prompted a call by Malone's attorney, Dominic Gentile, for a mistrial.

"We've been deprived of a fair trial," Gentile told Miller. "This was a very important issue in this case."

Miller told the jury to disregard Galardi's comment, denied the mistrial request but rebuked Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Ciaffa for allowing the testimony. He noted that the U.S. attorney's office has worked with Galardi, who pleaded guilty in 2003 and agreed to cooperate with the government's prosecution of political figures in San Diego and Las Vegas.

Miller said future witnesses need to know that they cannot make accusations of bribery of Las Vegas politicians.

"I urge you to drive it home with this witness and every future witness in this case," Miller told Ciaffa after the jury had exited the courtroom.

Gentile remained angry with the federal prosecutors after Miller had recessed.

"That was rehearsed," he said to Malone before leaving the courtroom.

Gentile denied accusations that Galardi made about Malone having met with the strip club owner and former Clark County Deputy District Attorney Gary Guymon in 1999 to demand a cut of the regular income from the operation. Although Malone has generally deferred on the record comment to his attorney, Gentile allowed Malone to respond to the charge.

"It did not happen," Malone said of the meeting. "I never met with Gary Guymon and Mike Galardi."

Gentile said Malone began working for Galardi only after losing the September 2000 election primary that pushed the county commissioner from office. Malone did not consider issues affecting the nude entertainment industry during that period, he added.

Gentile said Galardi's testimony would allow the defense, which includes Malone, two San Diego city councilmen and a city council aide, to impeach the prosecution's star witness.

"He (Galardi) is going to be a puddle on the floor of the courtroom before this is over," Gentile said. "He's a dancing dog, this guy. This guy is opening up doors for us to bring in people to say he is full of (expletive)."

Galardi's testimony potentially hurt Malone, though. Galardi said Malone's regular payment started in 1999 at $5,000 a week. It later went up, with regular payments of $750 week -- $150 in cash for every weekday and then $5 for every topless dancer who paid managers to perform during the morning shift at the Las Vegas Cheetahs, a payment that could typically total another $150 or more every day, seven days a week.

Galardi said he also provided $25,000 cash for Malone to help buy a new Ford Excursion, a top of the line sport utility vehicle, and bought him a Rolex watch.

"I recall he was still a Clark County commissioner. He was taking care of business for me. He was starting, helping me get all the approvals for Jaguars and the Leopard Lounge."

Galardi's recruitment of Malone was mirrored by payments to a San Diego police officer in the vice division, Russ Bristol, who was providing information on when raids would occur to the San Diego Cheetahs.

Galardi and his managers hoped the officer would assist in overturning the hated "no touch rule" passed in 2000 by the city council, which banned contact between the dancers and customers.

"We felt it would cripple our revenue," Galardi said, justifying consideration of a $50,000 payment to Bristol for his support of overturning the ordinance. Bristol, who turned out to be working for the FBI, already was receiving $2,000 a month for early warnings of police surveillance.

"If the girls can't touch a guy, they're most likely not going to make a lot of money," Galardi said. "Whatever it took to get the law changed, whatever they wanted, I would do.

"I wanted to gain influence with the local politicians in order to get them to change the law."

The mechanism for that effort was campaign contributions totaling many thousands in violation of a $250 per person legal limit to Councilmen Ralph Inzunza, Michael Zucchet and now deceased Charles Lewis. Inzunza, Zucchet and council aide David Cowan are Malone's co-defendants in the San Diego public corruption case.

Galardi's testimony, expected to last at least several days, came after a short testimony from Michael Beezley, a club manager for the former strip club owner. Beezley told the jury that his testimony, which included an account of Galardi paying Malone with money in a Crown Royal scotch bag, came in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Beezley said he helped collect dozens of checks for campaign contributions for Inzunza and Zucchet from friends, family and employees, mostly from Las Vegas, associated with the strip club chain. Those contributing $250 per person, or $500 for married couples, were later reimbursed by Galardi's lieutenants, a violation of state and local law.

Beezley said he didn't consider the legality of the issue at the time in 2001.

"Common sense would say it was illegal, but I was more concerned about getting Mike's sandwich correct -- mustard or mayo," Beezley said.

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