On May 14, 2003, the FBI raided the Las Vegas-based Galardi family’s strip clubs in Las Vegas and in San Diego as well as the offices of three San Diego City Council members as part of a two-year government corruption probe.
Four former Clark County commissioners have been charged in the case. Former commissioner Lance Malone was convicted in a San Diego federal trial in 2005; he will now stand trial in Las Vegas Sept. 18 . Former commissioners Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey who were found guilty of accepting cash bribes from strip club owner Michael Galardi and using their public offices to further the success of Galardi’s Las Vegas Valley businesses, will be sentenced August 21. Garlardi and former commissioner Erin Kenney have pleaded guilty.
Las Vegas- As the legal teams involved with former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone’s political corruption case await a decision on a change of venue request, the trial was postponed until Sept. 18.
Malone’s trial, the last in the case surrounding former strip club owner Michael Galardi, was originally slated to begin Aug. 29.
Malone’s lawyer, Dominic Gentile, continued Monday to submit evidence that he believes shows the Las Vegas Valley has been saturated with media reports on the political corruption case and that the publicity will make it impossible to seat an impartial jury.
Gentile said 4,000 pages of broadcast summaries and newspaper articles related to the case were collected, showing support for his argument.
Gentile requested that Malone’s trial be moved out of Southern Nevada or postponed until the publicity surrounding the case simmers.
Malone was scheduled to go to trial the week after his co-defendants, former Commissioners Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and Dario Herrera, are sentenced Aug. 21.
Kincaid-Chauncey and Herrera were found guilty in May of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and extortion.
The three were indicted in 2003 on charges of accepting cash and favors from Galardi while they sat on the commission.
After he left office, Malone went to work for Galardi, allegedly delivering cash to other elected officials.
Galardi and former Commissioner Erin Kenny also were named in the indictment. They pleaded guilty and have served as government witnesses.
Last summer, Malone was found guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud charges in San Diego. In that case, a jury ruled that Malone paid off three San Diego city councilmen in an attempt to overturn an ordinance that prohibited strippers and patrons from touching.
Malone was sentenced to three years in prison in the San Diego case but is free on bail pending appeal.