Thieving Las Vegas: Operation G-Sting

I swear to God. Chicago Cubs outfielder Moises so Lou has gone on the record saying that he urinates on his hands during the season, throughout the season. He's not alone. There are other ones like Je Posada, he said, and I quote, you don't want to shake my hands during spring training, and he on their hands because they believe it toughens them up. Now, I looked into it and there is your eha in urine, and it is something

that you'll find in like moisturizers, lotions creams. But it is used to soften the skin, not to harden it. So they're in there, in there, I don't know, the locker room, urinating on their hands in the shower, thinking they're doing something, they're doing the exact opposite. And I looked up the fact that if you wanted to actually have this work, you would have to like pee in a bucket and then soak your hands for like five minutes.

So you can't just like pee on your hands and that'd be enough to get to you into one big bucket. They could like soak their feet in it. Yeah, that's ridiculous, urinating on yourself. And I'm making this is like that. That is male skincare if I've ever heard of it. Wow, Yeah, ridiculous. Hey do you want to know what else is ridiculous? I'm here for it. Strip clubs, elected officials, lots of cash, and last Vegas. How did I know that last part

was coming? This is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast about absurd and outrageous capers, heists, and cons. It's always murder free and one hundred percent ridiculous. Let's talk about Vegas, Baby, Vegas. You know, like it's one of those places that people have strong opinions about it. Do you like it? Yeah? I do in a in a certain way, a certain way, like driving away? Why not? No? I don't like going is like I'm a Vegas tourist. Whim. I'm not a gambler.

I want to go to a conference there. You don't want to go with a bunch of people for like a hen party or whatever they call no bachelorette. Yeah, you suddenly English. I like that. This is more fun. Um. No, I got family there, so I like seeing my family in their cool parts to Las Vegas and old downtown. Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty cool too. Yeah. I had family there for a while, so that's all I know. I so we know it. We're insiders. Yeah. So Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada,

United States Planets. I've been there. Yeah, you have um in the nineties, do you remember the nineteen nineties? Yeah, it was just after the eighties. Totally were you right before? Were you born then? Was I around or was I born in the nineties, which is the question were you Were you alive in the nineties. I was totally alive in the nineties. I can't prove it, but I was. In the nineties, Vegas tried to have this like whole family friendly thing going on. Okay, that's when they opened

the ex Caliber Hotel all ladies. Yeah, um, and they did Paris and all those like the Island, the big pirate ship out in front. Um. They had video game arcades put in, and a lot of the casinos have like kid friendly shows. The MGM Grand put in a theme park kind of it's not there anymore, but they used to have like an amusement park behind the hotel um and then went and wild the water slide park on the strip. So lots of family stuff going on

in the nineties. Here's the problem. Gamblers didn't really want a lot of kids scurrying around under feet kids like little ash trays. The kids can't be hanging out on the casino floor and so it's like, well, they can can't be breeze through. You can be in transit walking through. Yeah, But then that's so, you know, there was way more money to be made in like the escapist, high end fantasy getaway for adults than in the family stuff. So eventually all that went away, and then the whole what

happens in Vegas Days in Vegas thing, Oh that was subsequent. Okay, They're like, we know we're a money yeah, let's let's they overcorrected. They were like yeah, so um, but in the middle of the family friendly fun era, UM the Las Vegas Sun newspaper called the nineties quote a golden age for political corruption in Las Vea. So we got all this family stuff and it is just scandal after scandal.

Once again, getting back to basics exactly, I'm going to tell you about a truly Vegas scandal that involves all the good Vegas elements. It's got strip clubs, check, cars, check, cash check, check, liquor che check, real estate development, emergency, roadside assistance. I think I got Bengo the Patriot Act Ski school. I definitely okay that you did this. So and it also has a fantastically ridiculous name. But I'll get to that. The crime is crime, like the whole thing,

the whole story. Let me let me set the stage first. So Michael Gallardi, he's the owner of Cheetah's Strip Club in Las Vegas. Familiar, Yeah, it's famous. It's where show girls. Yeah. His dad was a man named Jack Gillardi, and he owned about fifty strip clubs all around the country. And he has a nickname like Big Jack Gillardie Jackie. Um. So Michael's grows up with this dad who owns all these strip clubs. He's a sign of strip clubs. Yes,

he's ambitious. He wants to be like Pops. So he sees the success of Cheetah's and he wants to expand. So he gets all these architects and designers and they draw up his vision for a mega strip club like the Final Boss of Strip Cheetahs, but like with a buffet line and a sushi bar. Got you. This one's going to be located a mile off the strip, on

the other side of fifteen. If you're familiar with Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, USA, or Earth, So there's pretty much nothing around it in he's trying to scope this out and it's not really that different. Despite the incredible development in Vegas over the decades, this place was enormous twenty seven thousand square feet. Damn, that's a warehouse. Yeah, it's like a home depot of taking your clothes off and

like those forkliss blocking aisles. Sometimes, um, it looks like or it's more like a Costco edge stripping the end of a nile, so it looks like a little pasties. It looks like it looks like a mini Bellaggio. They get it all drawn up proto Tuscan meets grecians, stucco columns, desert fever dreams, quasi Mediterranean and luxurious. Yeah, which is like that is that has become Vegas architecturally, Like we get an urn in here, yeah, and some columns. I'm

gonna need some palm tree okay, big arches, cold detailing. Course, you gotta mix in some Moorish too, Hediterranean. And you know what, they wanted to call it Jaguars because jaguars che is fun to say because it's like kind of like cheater che. Jaguars is like a bad football team. He's like, you know what, sexy? Well, and then the next one is cougar. The senior said, no, have you ever heard of jaguars? Okay? Um? It was the first

mega gentleman's club in Las Vegas. Okay, And I stopped getting Mega Gentleman's club quarterly, so I don't keep up on the industry anymore, right, right. They had booze b o z alcohol, full nudity. Oh wow, so no food? They did have food. I don't know, he needn't ship why not? How it goes? You know what, Let go there and let's go into the earthiness of it. Um and then Also, what they said were full contact lap dances. It's like tackle lap I was not flag contact. Flap

you around a little bit. But that's the problem right here, full contact. An ordinance had just been proposed that would prohibit all touching between dancers and patrons. I'm sorry, I'm still in full contact lap dance over here. I've imagined going to the doctor. Violent. What happened, Mr Burnett, Well, I got a boob in the eye. Docket hit me dance. I know someone who had his nose broken by some

memories industrial string industrial. It was full contact. Yeah, no, anyway, so that's amazing that with that aside um, the ordinance was saying that you couldn't know touching between dance there's and patrons will there goes the full contact except for quote, hand to hand, tipping, hand to hand. Yeah, no sitting on anybody, no squatting around, no rubbins, just delicate pirouettes and then like a chased handover of a crumpled dollar bill from the sweaty paw of a patron to the

beglittered hand of a dancer. That's what that was. Don't mind the cocaine, Yeah, don't exactly step over the pile of cocaine on before. How did this ordinance come to be introduced? You're wondering, Not really, but I was the city council. They had a mandate from Okay there it is one of the one of the Clark County commissioners, and they're like county supervisors, but with an incredible amount of power. So Clark County, where Las Vegas is located,

the county commission just like runs everything. Okay, so it's very like the South where the county's running more than the city. Right. So one of the Clark County commissioners heard from the cops that quote, blatant sexual acts were taking place in some of the clubs under the guys of flap dancing. Now blatant is that like a criticism or hello, where have you been? Like did you just get born there? Like come on for you? Like no, everyone knows this is what happens, right, come on, that's

the deal. It's like massage part of this because they have back problems. So this Clark County commissioner disgusted, enraged truly or it was an election year for real, and then she proposes a no touchy ordinance. That's what hands off. Um. So this proposed ordinance plus zoning use permits, plus liquor licenses plus other bureaucratic issues were big trouble for Michael Galardi. So she hit him with the book basically like here, here's a list of things you gotta checked in. People

contact and lawyers are gonna help you with it. Good luck. His dream was in dangers erin Oh, just drowned in paperwork. Enter Lance Malone, the red tape cutter. I mean the name right, Gallardi. He reaches out to Lance Malone at the end of Lance Malone, I just like saying his name Lance Malone, or like a magician. But this is that Lance Burton is a big magician. Lance Malone. He was another Clark County commissioner. He was a pal of Gallardis from high school and he'd been on the commission

for two years when Galardi reached out. They make a deal, GALLARTI says, I'm gonna pay you five thousand dollars a month in exchange for favorable votes. You got a new job, that's all corruption. Now you have two jobs. Um, that's a damn fine deal. I'd say that's a pretty good deal. But it's going to take more than just one vote to get GALLARTI what he wants. It wasn't like it was like a tipping point thing seven person commission, and so he he wants to lock him in. He's I

don't want, I don't want. So Malone is like, I can think of three colleagues who could be bribed. Yeah, He's like, just off the top of my head, I got three. We're kind of a block. Malone starts by suggesting sheet because like it's like an algorithm, like work out with grafts and um. He starts testing this woman Aaron Kenny, and she was a former casino waitress who opened an advertising firm in nineteen nine and then she gets elected to the Clark County Commission in two thousand.

When Gallardi approached her, she was thirty nine years old. It's pretty young. Like, so in total over the years, Aaron Kenny accepted between a hundred and fifty thousand and two hundred thousand dollars from Gallardi, which is a pretty good chunk of change for not a lot of work. But there's a good amount of risk, right, This is five thousand dollars a month, and she got a hundred fifty. Well, no, I malone is pretty. He's just break him off. He's

doing special deals for each one, so um Gallardi. He also claimed to have a number of quote intimate encounters with Kenny in that time. They were cash, they were cashing in chips. Yeah, so here's my favorite cash transaction. Uh So Aaron Kenny meets up with Michael Gaillardi at the site of his new home in the hills overlooking Vegas, and before they're going to meet up in a construction trailer, they're like, la, la, you know how to treat all Gallardi.

He's like standing at the trunk of his car for a while. What's he doing. He's counting out ten thousand dollars in bills on the trunk of his car. Yeah, And and then he's putting him into a special container for her, something luxurious. Sarah, What luxurious container was that? The Crown Crown Royal bottle? You got it? The bag, the Crown Royal bag. Yeah, He's like, I want something special for my lady before we go into this cone.

He gave her ten in a velvet Crown Royal bag. See, you know how to treat a woman, right, Like a romantic oh yeah, the way you do anything is the way you do everything, and how there's a crown royal kind of guy. I like to look, baby, I did it right. I feel that velvet. Wow. So anyway, so he runs for governor lieutenant governor lieutenant governor in two thousand two, and like right before the election, her campaign the balance was negative three d and fifty thousand dollars.

She was in debt. Her campaign was right before writing a lot of checks or campaign couldn't. That's a lot of debt for that kind of campaign. But later she had missed us stealing a lot of money from her campaign was the one. She's the one who yeah, exactly. So she's you know, she has she's in the situation. She calls Lance Mellow, he's her own consulting team, and she says asks about GALLARTI and quote, tell me what I've got to do, but I've got to have money

from him. I'm on my knees begging. So right after that, she gets a check from GALLARTI for tho dollars. She's three fifty and he's like like here, I poured a little drop in the bucket. The bucket back. She lost the election. Yeah, so she she was never charged with campaign finance crimes, even though she was also wrapped up in other bribery charges related to money that she got from these real estate developers. So she was dipping all

over the place. She gave up her commission seat, and then she later got a gig as a consultant with one of the real estate developers who was paying her off before. And that's how that works. I think you know what her new salary was at that gigo. Dollars a month. Dang, dang, dang. Okay, let's take a quick break. Wait, dollars a month, a month, so that's thirty thousand every two months, and then that's a hundred and eighty thousand dollars a year as a consultant for the real estate agents.

Not already Okay, that's a side, yes, yes, totally paper um. All right, so quick break, and then we come back. I'm gonna tell you about the rest of the murderers row he assembled. There's more, all right, sus Aaron. When we were last here before, we went outside and ran around and I got I got all musty and dusty. Well, I like to go out and exercise and kind of like get my energy out because I'm a really high energy person. What's Elizabeth like? High energy person? Yeah? She

speaks really really quickly. She hates to be comfortable, Yeah, exactly. She loves stress and inconvenience, so frustration is her jam. So before we went out and did wind sprints in the street, UM, I was telling you about Michael GALLARTI strip club man. Uh, Lance Malone bag man, and then yeah, and then commissioner Kenny councilwoman Kenny. I guess she was a commissioner, um, and how she was going to be making what do we calculated out a d as a

quote unquote consultant. I could do that, um anyway, So we've got two more people that Lance Malone has to bring on board in order to be able to fix Still got the gated votes for Glarti because you got to get Jaguars open. Come on, we're all about innovation in this world. What's next mega stair conditioning bill for that place? Oh my god, you're right. And then like

disinfectant okay, so just drained in the middle. You know how in Vegas, like it's so hot and it's such a dry heat that like you rely on evaporative cooling, and they're all those spray systems to keep well. They just put disinfectantly with disinfect and glitter glitter identified. Oh you've been in jaguar as you're covered in a fine patina of glitter. You put a black light on him. Alright, So Lance Malone, he's he's paid vote number one. Aaron

Kenny paid vote number two two more number three. Mary Kincaid Chauncey. Yeah, she owns a flower shop at and she also served on the Commission from to two thousand and four. She was six seven years old when she was approached by Gaillarti in two thousand. He's got a pair on him to go to a sixty seven year old flower shop owner and being like, hey, can I make you dirty strip into a florist? I mean, come on,

you gotta have some stones to walk into a florist. Okay, So that he uh Gallardi said he paid her eighty five grand in total over their business relationship. That's nothing close to what Aaron Kenny was getting, but she was also not getting anything close to but still it's a good amount, right, m have been freaky So August two thousand one, Mary Kinkaide Chauncey. She gets eight hundred dollars from Gallarti via Lance Malone, and then she votes to

approve a liquor license for Jaguars. Good that she checked it off. Good to her money. She confirmed her integrity was worth the low low price of thirty eight Like, who cares what the votes for liquor whatever touches. But it's a bummer, like for it to be known you can be bought for so little. Do you think that, like the correct people are getting together and being like,

here's her price, I'll tell you right now. Or is it one of those things that people don't talk about salaries where they don't talk about your corruption amounts, Like I can't tell you how much. You know that you can get what you need for thirty eight hundred, But they're like, you know, wait till after the holidays and then prices go down. We've got grandkids, so she'll put out a lot for the holiday. It was August two

one hundred October two thousand one. She gets five grand from Malone up and then she voted to approve additional liquor licenses for his clubs. So okay, you know, maybe it was it was more than one. She understands the assignment. She later gets five grand um that she said was a campaign donation for her son's unsuccessful bid for North Las Vegas City Council, and then she set up some

sort of strip club event for her adult son. Does Nevada even have campaign finance or overside or is that like they have like a law against it they like you cannot look at she sets up a strip club party for her adult son. I don't know if it was a campaign event, like I told you, Mary freaky like I got that from her right away. Mary, I set up a party by strip club for my son. By the way, I'm gonna need Bunny to be there because she's my favorite. That's just what moms do for

their boys. Yeah, I mean, that's what my mom did for my seventh birthday. Party. Was so nice of her. I've seen the picture Misty Mountains was there was amazing. I don't know. I don't mind to go with the literate like like Misty Canyon's I got nothing. It was. It was a formative experience for you. Okay, So March April, I'm just listening them. This is fun. Can I take over July August, your turn, March April. You messed it.

You gotta go back. That's the order. They're in A two I'm sorry to March April tune two thousand two. She gets we're talking about you know, of course, Mary, what's her bucket? She gets three more five thousand dollar payments, and then she continues to vote in favor of Gallardis clubs flowers. The flower shop needs a new roof. She did, though, she voted in favor of the no touching rule. So she voted I don't understand, and voted in favor of the no touchy rule. So that means she said no

touching in the clubs. So what everything that Gallardi didn't want? So she approved the liquor, she approved the licensing, everything else. But she's like, but you can't allow the dancers to touch them. So either she got confused and thought she was just supposed to vote yes on everything, or my guess is that it allowed her plausible to my ability. I'm guessing with that one, because she's like the old lady, not old lady, but she's like a six seven year

old grandmother. She can't be in there going. I think the dancers should be able to put the boobs in the guy's faces, dollar bills and do each other's faces. Everything else is pro business. Yeah, you can do that and so and I'm figuring she knew that there were enough votes to cover the You know that it would it would be knocked down. Yeah, if you're going to throw the World Series, you gotta get a couple of hits. Exactly, exactly, So the ordinance was not approved. They could touch all

they wanted, full contact. Stripp eron ees Um, here's something I love, Zaron, Yes, is it trains? No? I do love trains. So um. According to Gallardi's later testimony, Kinkaid Chauncey also asked Gallardi for fifteen thousand dollars so she could send her grandson to ski the grandkids. Yes, I'm on, Mary, Yeah, I got my thumb with She asked for fifteen thousand dollars, and GALLARTI was like, here's four grand He's just the constant lowballing. He's consistent with that. Let's make a deal.

Like you're desperate, I'll give you four grands. Did your grand water school to going to like Shamany Maybe he's maybe he's gonna train for the Olympics, or maybe that was when she said that she did air quotes around ski school. Really is Cocaine's like, my grandson has a ski school problem and I need to get help for him, need to go to school. Um, so we've got we've got Kinkaid, Chauncey, We've got Aaron Kinney, We've got lots malone and then all of these overseas by the LARTI

we need one more vote. Yes, we got to get it over the top. And that brings us to Dario Herrera. Yeah, I've gotten a good feel on Dario. Well, okay, in two thousand, he's twenty seven years old. I love this, I know. And he's the chairman of the Commission. So he's already dirty. Yeah, well he's just like, no, someone's behind he's chairman at He's made big moves for a young guy. He's handsome. Yes, he's a former UNLV football player.

Oh so he's a local hero, super charismatic. Well, he was raised in Miami by a single mom, came to the US from Cuba, and he's in Vegas. Charismatic guy. He's like this big rising political star. He spoke at the two thousand Democratic National Convention. Really yeah, wow, he was on track to like go far. He was a protege of the U. S. Senator from the Great State of Nevada, Harry read UFO, Harry the late Harry Reid,

that was like one of his mentors. So he was like he was in position, and Harry Reid ran a pretty queen ship from what I le. I mean, he's not one of the like Louisiana. Harry Reid was a really really good man, really good man. Um So. In late so this is before he speaks at the Democratic National late nine, Lance Malone approaches Herrera about a bribe in exchange for favorable votes for Galarty. Hey, you want to join our team, he will give you five grand

a month. So he's like getting he's getting Lance Malone level money because he's the Cheese of Caman and he's just you know, he's he's going to be there for a while. Yeah, And it's like he know, we can hitch a wagon to this star. Yeah, he's right, You're right, he's a rising starts and you're gonna want to get

sway with him, right. Herrera accepts. He says, all right, He's like I like new trucks, and he gets paid fifteen to twenty times between late nineteen and mid two thousand three from a mouse between five thousand and ten thousand dollars each time every month. Yeah, pretty much. So he's just GALLARTI said. Over the course of four years, he paid Herrera about two hundred thousand dollars. How much is this warehouse of stripping worth that he's just able

to check after month after it just to get it proved. Well, he has all their money. Figure he's gotten another money, but in his mind it's worth it so much. That tells us how much they're making. Yeah. Yeah. So in addition, Herrera and his friends quote were treated to thousands of dollars and drinks and lap dances at Mr Galardi's clubs. So he's getting the cash and then he and his pals can just roll into whichever going to get like the full V I P S treatment young men. Yeah,

I've seen it. They love that. They do love that so and none of it was ever reported by Herrera on financial disclosure forms. How would you put that? You would have just like, I mean, you've got to drinks, free drinks or you know whatever, the you know, dance like strenuous activity on my lab. And it's going to need a receipt for that use calisthetics full contact Caalisthetics UM.

Spring of two thousand one, Gallardi paid for a golf outing for Harrera, again not reported UM, during which Harrera later admitted that he received sexual favors from a cheetah dancer. Behind the bushes, It's like something out of an eighties movie, right, it is gross? Okay, not because of three. Here's the thing, Like why I think it's so gross. I'm not. I'm not hung up on the like public fornication, whatever. I don't want to look. I don't want to say that

is gross. But here's what's gross. When I hear about these kind of trips, like behind the bushes, you start picturing cartoon people don't know, Well, that's how I normally picture, but in this case, no, it's the opposite. I start thinking like like stuff about ants and small small small sticks and like dog poop hidden and leaf piles. That's what's behind bushes, you guys. And they want to go

back there. Who knows spiders. They're doing public corruption, public fornication, and you're like, have you guys, thought about the spine. I'm saying, you're gonna go and like remove at least some clothing and you're in. You could be standing in a pilot dog poop. Not if there's just a bunch to leave something. Are you really enjoying it? Well? Yeah, so anyway, gross, very gross. You know it's like you always see like even in movies where couples like are

reclining in a meadow just like kissing. They're they're on thinking time you're watching, you're likens pokey rock sticks, you know, like a centipede, a caterpillar. Would that be like fun? Do you ever imagine the fun? How many caterpillars have you smashed? And now we won't have now we won't have. But over here you're like, well, you know we if we walk, we're taking steps on the into the life form.

That's why I float everywhere. So anyway, herreras and dog poop and leaf piles um Herrera he wasn't brand loyal when it came to entertainment because he also allegedly got free services at strip clubs not owned by Gallardi, Like he went to Crazy Horse two and Olympic Gardens, and they were like Dario and so September two one, he just became a college athlete and never looked back. Yeah,

completely wotly. Could you imagine if he never got caught and like today we're like President Herrera has imposed full contact strip clubs at all voting location. Yea, if he didn't get caught, Yeah, okay, he'd be senator president. I'm with you. Go. On September two one, Lance Malone gives Dario Herrera quote thousands of dollars in cash in a car outside Landry's Seafood restaurant on West Sahara Avenue. Please tell me there was like a brown paper bag and

in there. This is not glamorous stuff. Like they're not in tailored state. They are in a strip mall parking lot across from Palace Station Casino, which is like a local casino on the strip. Someone's always not a cigarettes. They're handing each other a couple of thousand dollars. Like when you think about the volume of money to be made at the strip clubs, which they we've seen, like the amount that Doti is willing to spread around, but then also how much he's willing to break him off.

He's always lowballing. He's not giving them huge portions. Yeah, and so it's kind of crazy, like he's these little pittances really to these guys. Um and then Gallardi also offered Herrera a Lincoln Navigator, which Herrera declined. He called the suggestion quote a little bit too obvious. He's like, Zaren's going to talk about trucks. Yeah, this is like, you know, like number three on the list of what a young man on whose corruption is going to be

doing can navigate? The navigator? Is it black with tinted windows? It should have been like a Ford to Yes, nobody would look at that, No one, No one expects that, just like the Spanish inquisition. September two one that same month, as they sat in the parking lot of a defunct now closed steakhout or seafood restaurant, Harrera voted to approve a liquor license and they used to permit for jaguars.

Finally got in his vote. So we got Gallardi, the strip club King, Lance Malone, the bag Man, Kenny Kinkaid, Chancey Chauncey whatever, Herrera, Girl, Mary and Herrera lots of cash, Ski school in delicate acts on the golf course, let's take a break. When we come back, I'm going to tell you how it worked out for all them, So,

Saron Elizabeth. When we left off, Michael Michael Gallardi strip club King was paying off four Clark County commissioners in order to get the appropriate approvals and expand his empire of Las Vegas gentlemen's clubs. Make the dream of Jaguars come true. People need it's so important, so full contact, touchy, touchy and totally nude. And the crab rangoon, I mean like we're talking bare souls of feet. Um. So aside from his places in Vegas, now, I just can't think

of crab ringing things of that nature. So besides the places in Vegas, Gallardi he also owned a street club in San Diego, which also was named Cheetah's. You know, just worked the first word the brand. In the late nineties, the FBI first began investigating Alarty after rumors emerged he was using his San Diego club to launder money for drug dealers. Oh yeah, that investigation didn't go anywhere though, However, during its course, the FBI caught Galardi saying, quote, I

own every county commissioner in Vegas. Right now, I've got them all on the payroll. That's not something you should brag it up. Yeah, just stated right, that's something you think in your head and you're like, no, you go, yeah, I'm pretty cool. Um. And they're like smiling and nodding about nothing. Don't worry about it. It's none of your business. I just think funny thinks sometimes. So cool um. Okay.

And with that, this new this new operation, this new FBI endeavor is born, and it's called Operation g Sting. Oh wow, I like it. Yeah they do. They do it up right. You have to say the a lot and we have to type it a lot. So let's make it something dumb. Guys, they just want to close mouth chuckle, Operation g sting. Can you imagine them coming up with like they're having a little meeting and the guys are throwing names and like the brainstorm on the whiteboard. Yeah,

I want to know the ones that were rejected. Thunderstruck not thunderstruck again, but we could do like the song don no aberation nid is. So this Operation g Sting was a joint effort between the FBI, Las Vegas Metro Police Department and the I r s oh. I thought you're gonna say one of your TV shows and the b A U and they're like Las Vegas C S I and Engine one eight from Los Angeles Fox TV show nine one one. I've never show, but what I love about it is it wherever they're located in Los Angeles.

They also answered calls all over l A County, anywhere anywhere like Elsinore. They'll be. They can go to Vegas. Why not a lot of peoples stop at Baker and they pose in front of the giant thermometer. It um, all right, where were we? FBI? Vegas, Metro I R S. So the FBI they used video surveillance and wire tapped phone calls between Lance Malone, Michael Galardi and the other suspects.

A lot of the conversations that they listened to happened in one of the Commissioner's cars, which had what the legal documents referred to as a quote on Star type navigation system. So they keep saying an on Star type. I don't know if it was actually on Star or whatever. The Star like, look, we don't want to hurt the brand, and so for clarification on Star, can you name another so it's it's a subscription based communication serve some cars.

Have you ever seen that ad where someone totals their car and it's all out of it and then the on Star operator comes on and tells them they're brave and okay and to live their truth. No, well, we don't watch TV, so we've never seen it. But apparently, yeah it is. It's pretty funny, like the on Star you're going to be okay, don't You're ones like you know, we've seen that you've been in an accident. Yeah, I do that. Yeah, but I didn't know we go to

like live your truth. Now they don't. I was making that part of but you've believed it, I sell it so good. Um alright, so uh, it's got all the emergency stuff also hands free calling in GPS, navigation, and then remote operations to the car itself. Down was super technologically advanced in those days. That was like it was expensive and it was like a high end thing to have in your car. Um. The FBI asked the quote on Star type company to put the system in the

commissioner's car into what's called stolen vehicle recovery mode. That yeah, stolen vehicle recovery mode opens up a communication line to the car so that anyone monitoring the system can hear what's going on in the car without the occupants knowing it. Back in the early two thousands, now these days, stolen they have stolen vehicles slow down where they remotely slow a stolen car to stop. There's remote ignition blocks, so if a car gets stolen, the ignition gets deactivated, so

if it's shut off, the thieves can't restart it. I'm guessing that's like for carjackings. They're stolen car injection seats right out of the top of the car, and then there's one where as soon as they started back up again, the like floor of the car is just covered an old desiccated French fries and it smells bad. And then ants come and they're like, oh, that happened to me once in the bushes, So I won't tell you what

I'm differing back there. So, like, the company initially complied with the FBI requests, but then they resisted, and then the case went to the courts, where eventually the Court of Appeals ruled that the eavesdropping was not allowed, but not because of privacy concerns, and I guess technical commercial concerns basically the copyright. No. The court said that by both getting close. The court said that by putting the quote on Star type system in recovery mode quote, it

would render it inoperable in an actual emergency. So it was more consumer safety than privacy. You're no longer getting what they paid for. Their privacy is a myth babyce the commercial issue no worries. FBI is like, guess what, guys, We've got the Patriot Act. That means that we can get evidence in other places. So, just to recap, the USA Patriot Act was enacted right after and the two

thousand one Anthrax attacks. Remember those, Um, did you know that USA Patriot is an acronym for uniting and strengthening America by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism. Remember it was dumb because you can see the poor assistance and staffers trying to come up with Again, I would like to see the rejected list yes, yes, of acronyms for US Patriot Act. So the Patriot Act has

three main areas. First, it expanded surveillance abilities phone tapping both domestic and international, to interagency communication regarding resources and counter terrorist efforts, and then three increased penalties for terrorism crimes and an expanded list of activities which would qualify

for terrorism charges. That's a huge one right there. So like the really worrisome parts of the Patriot Act where the authorization of indefinite detention without trial of foreign nationals a little recent and then um, the permission that was given to law enforcement to search property and records without warrant, consent or knowledge war untless wire tapping and search because like basically the FBI could issue their own subpoenas and

those were called National Security letters, and that would order businesses or organizations to surrender data and documents without probably cause or judicial oversight. Yeah. And the back dooring right where they just allow them to go in well yeah, because like the letter contained a gag order, which meant that the recipient couldn't disclose that the that the letter was ever used. In Operation g sting Um, the FBI used the recently pass Patriot Act to quickly obtain financial

records of its targets. And this is the first time that the Patriot Act was used against local politicians Vegas, neither Vegas or Miami. They were neck and neck on that. So like, basically, the FBI sent a letter to the bank, no judge looked at it to approve it. The bank

had one designated person who received these letters. Since generally legal counsel um, the designated recipient had to turn over the files to the FBI, and the bank couldn't tell the customer whose files were turned over that they had been handed off to the FEDS. All this is happening. They have no idea. It's a situation that's completely ripe for fishing expeditions. And then the definition of terrorism got really,

really broad, so everything's running amok um. When the use of the Patriot Act in these cases was made public in two thousand three, Representatives Shelley Berkeley of Nevada, she was then a representative, said quote, I didn't vote for the Patriot Act to allow the FBI to go after strip club owners. Well, well, guess what happened. You didn't read the whole thing. And so the executive director of the a c LU commented, quote, no one can suggest that they are in any way, shape or form involved

with terrorist activity, meaning the strip clubs. And then Senator Harry Reid of Nevada to old the New York Times quote he was not aware that the money laundering provision was in the bill when he voted for it in late two thousand one. He said he did not expect the bill to be as widely used as it had been in domestic investigations that had little or nothing to do with international terrorism. He said he thought the bill was about thwarting terrorists, not, as he put it, quote

naked women. The FBI, however, said the patriarch was used quote clearly within the legal parameters of the statute. Yeah, Zaren Elizabeth, I want you to close your eyes. Wait wait, yeah, I want you to picture it. Oh. Yes, It's mid May two three. It's a weekday afternoon. You're the mop boy at Jaguars and you've just started your shift. The new shift of dancers has also just arrived, and they're

getting ready in the dressing rooms. You're hanging out in the manager's office, going over the supply list and catching up with the manager himself, a guy who later identified himself in the press as just joe Ce. Okay, uh. You hear a commotion out in the lounge. You hear that you guys exchange glances just like the countless times before when you both figure a fight or of some sort is going on, and like Joe's got to go

assist the bouncers and shutting it down. He opens the office door and there are two agents with their guns drawn staring back at him. You slide down in your seat. Meanwhile, other agents are using a battering ram to open the liquor room door. They're reckoned shop. I'm not getting paid tonight. It's a good old fashioned FBI raid baby now. Oh yeah, I put the mob down, Grab what every booze you can walk on and see what you can pawn. Gilardi.

Other Vegas businesses Cheetahs and the Leopard Lounge. Uh they were also rated, as well as Cheetas in San Diego, which was also being investigating. Um I love the San Diego to Vegas pipeline. Oh it's it's strong, it is real, it's real, it's here, it's not going anywhere. It is angry, is so living. It's truth right now? Um So what

were the suspicions that the FBI had. According to their search warrant, they were looking for financial records, receipts, canceled checks, campaign contributions, improvised explosive devices, yes, like glitter bombs, of any records about gifts to Clark County commissioners and their spouses dating back now. It should be noted that when they brought in Aaron Kenny for questioning, she almost immediately admitted she'd been taking bribes and agreed to testify for

the prosecution. Immediately She's like, he's like digging, like, yeah, I have a seat. I took bribes. They're like, oh, oh wait, we thought you were someone else. In September two thousand three, Gallardi pleading guilty to conspiracy in San Diego. He testified that he gave thirty four thousand, five hundred dollars in cash and contributions to three city councilmen there. So I mean he is spending a lot of money

in various municipalities. In return, he wanted them to repeal a two thousand law that prevented strip club patrons from touching dancers. He's really into context. He wants people to hunk. He just wants to get people together, coziness and touching and people like you know that someone loved them. He just likes cozy things, coziness of incredible amounts of money. He succeeded, the law was repealed. Um he gets sentenced to fifteen months in prison for bribing San Diego officials.

He told the reporters in San Diego that the bribery was quote, just part of business. He wanted to explain, I grew up in Vague and that is just part of how you do business. Do you know who my dad is? I think I think people feel the same way everywhere about politicians. People think they're all corrupt, and I agree with them. I can buy anybody. In October of two thousand three, just a month later, he pleads

guilty to one count of violating the Rico Act. Always with the Rico, always with the most powerful legal development. It's remarkable. Um. He said that over a period around the decade, he paid out over four thousand dollars to public officials. It's not that's actually yeah, it's less than I would have thought, yeah, based on how much he

was thrown around. But that's what he said anyway. So there was a Department of Justice press release that said, quote, some of the matters which the defendants corruptly influenced included the passage of a Clark County ordinance that increased the separation between strip clubs from five hundred to one thousand feet, the issuance of zoning, use permits and liquor licenses for Jaguars, the controlling and harassing of Galartiss and his competitors, the

defeat of a proposed ordinance that would have prohibited all touching between dancers and patrons except hand to hand tipping. So it's like they increased the amount of space, but then also you know they controlled and harassed his business competitors, and that's what are you gonna do. So the trials for the Las Vegas Clark County Commissioners um all of them involved, began in the spring of two thousand and

six and it lasted more than seven weeks. Gilardi testified that his bribery of Vegas public officials first started back in when he paid then then councilman to solve a licensing issue around Cheetah's right after it. I was just sixteen years old. He was looking for his dad in the summer. This is a hard working kids, he said. He paid another unnamed politician five thousand a month in

the mid nineties in return for political influence. Uh He claimed that many other city officials, including the mayor, various judges, cops, district attorneys, had also been bribed and or bribed and or bribed you know that's a new thing, or given perks like free drinks, lap dances, sexual favors whenever they've visited Cheetahs, golf clubs in the area, or you know,

poop bags for going behind bushes. Um. He said that he had fifteen to forty attorneys on the list who could quote get free drinks and lap dances at Friday afternoon lawyer days at his club. Friday afternoon lawyer he held lawyer days. You're going to lawyer days down to Cheetahs and then. But all the other officials he referred

to were never charged. And it should be noted that defense lawyers for all these former county commissioners, they claimed that Glardi was prone to making wild accusations, exaggerations, and outright lies. Now did the commissioners get through their trials soon enough to go back and get re elected immediately? Because figuring Vegas politics, there's still Lance Malone. He was charged in Las Vegas with conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion under

color of official right. Rico Caterminal forfeiture, you know, just a grab bag and so at first he pleads not guilty, but then he gets convicted in the San Diego case. Because I guess he's dipping into the situation out there, he changes his plea. He pleads guilty in Las Vegas to violating federal racketeering laws for bribing commissioners. Okay, so

he he pleads guilty. In two thousand and seven, he was sentenced to six years in prison and he was released inn He ran a pizza shop when he got out, but it's closed now and I have no idea what he's up to these days. Was the pizza not good or did the front dry up? Who knows its front? I hope he's living his best life. I hope he's living his truth. I'm always reading for that me too, U Dario Herrera. He pleaded not guilty. He said that the only money he accepted from Gallardi was a ten

thousand dollar campaign contribution. Um. He did admit that he'd get free lap dances, and he did admit to an affair with one of Gallardi's employees. He was found guilty of the affair of so mid two thousand and six. He gets convicted of seventeen counts out of nineteen that he's charged with of corruption, wire fraud, conspiracy, extortion. He gets sentenced to fifty months in prison, a fifty dollar fine, and then he had to fourfeit sixty grand more than

four years. He did thirty months in prison, so just under three years. Um July, while still on supervised release, he was arrested on a charge of domestic battery in California. It kind of started spiraling, but by seventeen he was running a marketing company and volunteering at an organization that helped people find work after being released from prison. So yeah,

and here's some here's some quotes from him. I accomplished great things and then I did some terrible things, and I failed miserably and spectacularly, over and over and over again, like okay, I am a Fitzgerald story of America. He said I was unfaithful, I was very arrogant. I thought I was above the law. And then he said, I wanted to repair the relationship with my kids. I wanted to make amends with those I've hurt, including the community.

And here I am, you know, eight years later, finally being able to stand up in front of people and admit the things I did. So here we have this guy at the time of the downfall political golden boy could have been a national figure. You know. So he's repairing things apparently you're undone bias hubs and now he's repairing his human Yeah. Yeah, so again he's another we wish. I wish he's living his best life. Mary Kinkaid Chauncey with Florence, my girl. She's the one she wanted to

ski school, ski school for her grandfa. She gets convicted on thirteen of fourteen counts of corruption. Uh he gall already testified that he paid her between seventy five and eighty five thousand dollars. She gets busted for accepting more than seventeen thousands. So I guess the you know fuzzy numbers. Both her son and her daughter testified against her, against her embarrassed, I'm guessing it's the son who you know, your mom throws you an event in the strip club

and look at that ungrateful wretch. Then he son who didn't get the party, not one for Trevor or not for me. Despite despite the evidence against her, she maintained her innocence, and she later appealed her case but lost, so she was sentenced to thirty months in prison. She was also fined around seventy s ordered to give back d dollars in goods Ski's give us all the Skis. She spent two years in prison and after her release

she worked at the Las Vegas Church. She insists to this day that she was wrongfully convicted um, even though there's ample proof in en she talked to the local channel eight news. Um she's a great grandmother of twenty five now, by the way, and she said she wants a pardon. She said, quote, I don't think I ever will, but that would be nice to do that, because I don't know if there's a stigma to it. Does she know that a pardner is ultimately an admission of guilt?

Apparently not. So then we get to Aaron Kenny, Aaron, the one who started as a casino waitress, opened an ad agency, connoodled with Gallarti, took bribes right and left girl. She pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy and fraud, and then she and Gaillarti joined forces and testified against everybody to her. So she gets she gets sentenced to thirty months in prison and is given a very large fine. She spent around twenty six months in prison. She gets

released in June of two thousand nine. Um. She still owed a hundred and thirty thousand dollars in fines for her conviction. Um, she's another one who seems to have dropped off the radar. I did find that she seems to have some sort of consulting business. Now I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you the honest to God's truth. I have people I could ask who would tell me exactly where she is, but I'm not going to do that. Okay,

I'll ask you later. Thank you so. Michael Galardi he pleaded guilty, as we know, to that one count of racketeering in Vegas in two thousand and seven. He was sentenced to thirty months in prison. Because of his cooperation with the FBI and the fact that he was not an elected official, the judge gave him a lighter sentence and the key to Las Vegas. He also had to pay five thousand dollars in fines. He's got the money. Yeah.

He had to forfeit three point eight five million dollars to the government for what just just like like you know, you got the money. It's dirty given to us. We threw darts at a board. This was the number we came up with. He also had to give up his business interest in both Cheetahs and Jaguar. I don't need to sell it to his cousin or whatever. Pretty much, he was allowed to serve both his San Diego and Las Vegas sentences concurrently, and by he said he was

no longer running strip clubs. What is he doing? I don't know. Now he's in a used car deal who knows? Who cares? The neon sign at Cheetahs in Vegas came down and the club was officially closed. It's now called the Library Gentleman's Club and according to its website, it's Las Vegas is only premium full nude strip club. Okay, truth be told. I'm pretty sure I've been there. I'm sure you have. I have a friend who lives in Vegas, and I quote unquote friends. Yeah, he's a ski instructor.

But I have a friend who lives in Vegas. He actually, I swear to God, a DJ, and he would take me to places that DJs take you too. And that was one of them, well still glitter on. Probably every time you sneeze, couldn't get it out of the dress. So with the toppling of the cheetah sign, which I don't do, you needed a moment. So ends another ridiculous chapter in Las Vegas history. And that's my tale of

Operation g sting that. What's your ridiculous takeaway? Aren't you happy as I'm over here just beaming like I got like rosy cheeks like that in the glitter that's the shine? Um. I think my ridiculous takeaway is if I was to open a strip club, I wouldn't name it after like cats, I would, but I would pick an animal and it wouldn't be like one you would think of. It would be like, I don't know, like ard Varks is exactly like the rusty armadilla. You're like, why would that? How

is that sexy? I'm like, exactly, I'd open slots. It would just be like a bunch of gals lay it around and like really comfortable like comfortable valure. Oh yeah, like really soft socks and like you know, you just get to recline and lay around and pay to say sexy things they know, and then the clients walk through and they look at you hang down to the sexy part and if they stare for too long, you go get out of here. Come on, now, what do you think I'm doing here? We're a bunch of slots and

it's like it's toasty and chill. There's leaves on the ground. Leaves on the ground in the back of the club for those who were so inclined. I like the Since you asked, what's your ridiculous takeaway? I like I like all the ridiculous details and things just in general in life. Um, but I and and in our stories are fun stories that we share. But like this one has really good little details. The crown royal bag, Dude, I can't I

still can't believe that. Like, if you're going to give a gift of love put in I want to think what could hold money? And that what would be money size? And you're like, what holds money? What would I use to woo a lady? Yeah? What was the most decaded thing I can think of? Super fancy? Wow, they're rich. I like the guy you know fooling around in the bushes you do with the ants on? The ants on is crawling up that Yeah, they're brush, they're finding ants

like an hour later, like coming out of their shirt. Um, and there's like what do you smell that? And they're checking their shoes like lifting. Um. I love the request for ski school, but oh my god, everything about Mary story, all of it is so mundane and cheap. It's also foolish and greedy. But it's mundane and cheap, and like, I think my takeaway is that the things that we think are edgy and necessary and desired are pretty ridiculous when you see it from a distance. Yeah, it's it.

So that's it for today. You can find us online at Ridiculous Crime on both Twitter and Instagram. Hey you do you have a tip for us about a ridiculous crime? You want to hear about? Email us Ridiculous Crime at gmail dot com. They couldn't they forward me these emails? Um, God bless the person who is supposed to be running that email anyway. Yeah, do you need advice about criming? You know, asked Saron Um. Twitter has jokes while twitters

around uh Instagram as pictures. You know, I don't know, I don't know what I'm trying to get into my I have a shift at exactly I know you're about to be yes, it starts in like ten. I can't just you know, I'm not a robot, Szaren. I can't just turn it on and off. I have to transition just putting into slippers slippers and laying down. I'm an artist and in the biz we like to to present fully. So whatever with your social media's and your you know what,

it's the whole Internet. It's going to collapse any day now, anyway, who cares. I saw an avenue five that were running out of lithium, so yeah, yeah, so you know, if everything breaks, then I'll just like record these on the real, too real, and leave them in the bushes and people can dig them out and listen, look at for the dog poop. That's it to the next sorry. Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zarin Burnett, produced and edited by Mayor of Magic City Dave Kusten. Researched by

on Star operator Marissa Brown. The theme songs by Thomas Make It rain Lee and Travis Cheetah Boy. Dutton Executive producers are Glitter Remover, Ben Bolan and Loose Slight Heeled Polisher Noel Brown Say It One more Time. We Dequeous. Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeart Radio. Four more podcasts. To my heart Radio, visit the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.