Judge denies allegations by Galardi

Saturday, April 15, 2006 | 7:36 a.m.

District Judge Nancy Saitta said the allegations of former strip club owner Michael Galardi against her won't have a bearing on her decision to run for the state Supreme Court.

While Saitta is weighing a run against Justice Nancy Becker this November, she has had to contend with news of FBI reports that have Galardi suggesting that competing strip club owner Rick Rizzolo provided her with cash in exchange for beneficial court rulings.

She said the allegations are "100 percent" untrue.

"No they (the allegations) won't have any effect on my decision because of the confidence I have in my honesty and that I haven't done anything wrong in regards to the federal investigation," said Saitta, who expects to make her decision in the next two weeks.

Her campaign reports show that Rizzolo contributed $1,000 to her 1998 campaign and nothing in 2002.

Saitta has denied, however, accepting any cash from Rizzolo, saying, "I don't remember anybody offering me cash, and if they did I wouldn't have accepted it."

The judge has said she never personally accepts campaign contributions, preferring to let her campaign workers deal with the donations.

Galardi is the federal government's star witness in a political corruption trial that centers on four former Clark County commissioners.

Rizzolo, who owns the Crazy Horse Too topless club, is at the heart of an ongoing FBI investigation that, sources have told the Sun, is winding down. Rizzolo's lawyer, Tony Sgro, has maintained his client's innocence.

Saitta has not been charged with any wrongdoing, and she said the FBI has not interviewed her about the allegations.

She said she wants to make sure she is "able financially and intellectually" before making a final decision to run.

Saitta was appointed to a vacant seat in Las Vegas Municipal Court in October 1996. She then was elected to District Court in 1998 and was re-elected without opposition in 2002.

Since taking the bench in District Court she spearheaded the effort creating the Construction Defect Court in 2001 and is leading the way toward creating a pilot domestic violence court.