Former Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera and his wife, Emily, leave the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse on Monday after Herrera received a 50-month sentence for his convictions in his political corruption trial. He must surrender Jan. 12. Photo by Gary Thompson. Dario Herrera Sentence: 50 months Prosecution wanted: 51 months Defense wanted: 41 months Forfeitures, fines and assessments: $76,600 Prison location requested: Englewood, Colo., or Florence, Colo. Minimum-security prison camps. Mary Kincaid-Chauncey Sentence: 30 months Prosecution wanted: 41 months Defense wanted: Unspecified term less than 41 months Forfeitures, fines and assessments: $27,800 Prison location requested: Victorville, Calif. Minimum-security prison camp. Dario Herrera, former chairman of the Clark County Commission, listens during Monday's sentencing by U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks. Below is a letter to the judge from Herrera's wife. Illustration by David Stroud. Former Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey listens during her sentencing hearing Monday in federal court. Illustration by David Stroud. Former Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey talks with the media after her sentencing Monday in her political corruption trial. She received a 30-month term and asked to serve her time in a minimum-security facility in Victorville, Calif. Photo by Gary Thompson.

They were convicted of similar crimes and faced similar sentences, but a federal judge on Monday saw former Clark County Commissioners Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and Dario Herrera as vastly different defendants, opting to shave nearly a year off the potential prison term of a "nice lady" while telling Herrera he was shocked by his behavior.

U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks' view of the two was reflected in the prison sentences he levied in their 3-year-old political corruption case.

Kincaid-Chauncey was sentenced to 30 months in prison after her defense attorney asked Hicks to depart downward from federal sentencing guidelines that called for at least 41 months of incarceration. Herrera received a 50-month prison term, only one month shy of what had been recommended by prosecutors.

"I have never before witnessed a witness spin so carefully the evidence," Hicks said of Herrera in a separate hearing that followed Kincaid-Chauncey's. "This jury could see through that with the drop of a hat, but it went on and on and on."

Of the 68-year-old Kincaid-Chauncey, Hicks noted her willingness to house dozens of foster children over the years.

"It does not seem to me to achieve anything to sentence this lady to 41 to 51 months," Hicks said, referring to the sentencing guidelines. He also noted that he received 67 letters in support of Kincaid-Chauncey, more than he has ever seen in previous cases.

The judge later would hammer Herrera after rebuffing his attorneys' attempts to secure a sentence at the low end of the same sentencing range.

"This is a collection of convictions that is shocking and extremely disturbing," Hicks told Herrera. "The fact is, this man was chairman of the Clark County Commission when all these felony offenses occurred."

Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey must start their prison terms by Jan. 12.

In 2003, Kincaid-Chauncey, Herrera and their former colleagues Erin Kenny and Lance Malone were indicted on charges they accepted cash bribes from then-strip club owner Michael Galardi. In return, prosecutors alleged, the commissioners acted favorably on Galardi-related matters.

Kenny and Galardi pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the government. Malone, who became Galardi's right-hand man after leaving office in 2000, is scheduled to go to trial Sept. 18. Last summer, Malone was found guilty of similar political corruption charges in a parallel case in San Diego.

In May, Kincaid-Chauncey was convicted on 13 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and extortion. Herrera was found guilty of 17 counts of the same charges.

With the prison term, Herrera must forfeit $60,000 -- the amount the prosecution was able to prove he received from Galardi -- and pay $16,600 in fines and court administrative assessments. Kincaid-Chauncey must pay $19,000 in forfeitures and $8,800 in fines and assessments.

Hicks handed down the sentence against Kincaid-Chauncey after tearful pleas from the former commissioner and her attorney, Richard Wright.

"She is one of the most selfless persons I have ever represented. She is decent. She cares to a fault about others," said Wright, who was overcome by emotion.

"I regret all the pain that this has caused my family and friends," said Kincaid-Chauncey, who asked to serve her term at a prison camp in Victorville, Calif.

Seated on a courtroom bench, Kincaid-Chauncey's husband, Robert Chauncey, bowed his head and appeared to pray as Hicks announced the sentence.

Kincaid-Chauncey said she intends to appeal the verdict as she serves her time. She acknowledged she probably will complete her sentence before the appeals are over but said her main goal is to clear her name and reinstate her right to vote.

"I'm happy the waiting is over at least and I know what's happening with my life," she said outside the courtroom. "I get my strength from God. I know he'll be with me through this."

Her husband said he plans to make plenty of trips to Victorville and is confident Kincaid-Chauncey will cope with prison life.

"I know she's going to be fine; she's a strong person," he said.

As Kincaid-Chauncey left the courtroom, Herrera waded through a crowd of her friends and family to give his former colleague a hug and kiss.

Later, during his own hearing, the 33-year-old's voice cracked as he addressed the judge. His wife, Emily, sat behind him, dabbing her face with a tissue.

"I have only myself to blame for this," Herrera said, his demeanor in contrast to the stoicism he presented on the witness stand in April. "I compromised not only my name but the political process I swore to uphold."

He is forgoing his appeals of the verdict. His defense attorney, Jerry Bernstein, told the judge that the decision demonstrates his remorse.

"Mr. Herrera made a decision on his own and with consultation with family that he was going to give up that very significant right," Bernstein said.

But Herrera's and Bernstein's words appeared to have little effect on the judge.

Hicks said that one of the most "incredible and provoking memories" he had from the trial was Herrera's testimony and that it was clear he was "untruthful" on the stand.

Hicks was troubled by Herrera's account of a August 2001 FBI surveillance video that captured his vehicle in the parking lot of Cheetah's, a Galardi club. Herrera called Galardi on the phone from the parking lot and drove away when he learned Galardi was not at the club.

Herrera, who had broken his ankle earlier that day, told the jury he agreed to meet Galardi to discuss county business, not to collect a cash bribe. He said he prided himself on his accessibility.

"Here he is sitting in front of Cheetah's in that automobile waiting for Mr. Galardi to make a payoff, and he is the chairman of the Clark County Commission," Hicks said.

Although Herrera's lawyers argued that he changed his ways after joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hicks pointed out that Herrera lied on the stand after the conversion.

"That testimony occurred after the turn, and it was definitely an attempt to obstruct justice," Hicks said.

But Hicks complimented Herrera's wife for a letter she sent to the judge before the sentencing hearing.

In the letter, Emily Herrera, who endured hours of testimony about her husband's sexual exploits with strippers and employees from Galardi's clubs, acknowledged Herrera's weaknesses but said he is committed to overcoming them.

"Over the course of the past several months, I have loved, hated, cherished and despised my husband," the letter said. "I have dreaded the thought of him going through prison and wished that time to come quicker. I have been so proud of how hard he has worked to earn my forgiveness and yet angry that he made choices that required it."

She closed by saying any leniency the judge offered would allow their family to heal quicker.

Douglas McNabb, a Houston defense attorney who specializes in federal criminal cases, said Herrera was fortunate the judge did not sentence him to more than the 51 months recommended by the prosecution.

"If a result of the criminal activity of public officials causes the public to lose confidence in their government, the court could have departed upward" from the sentencing guidelines, McNabb said.

Herrera requested to be sent to a federal prison camp in Englewood, Colo. If that was unavailable, he requested placement in a camp in Florence, Colo. Why he opted for Colorado rather than a closer prison facility in California was unclear.

Herrera also pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge in August 2004, an act that the Bureau of Prisons might evaluate before placing Herrera in a camp, McNabb said. But Hicks made no mention of the charge and said Herrera had no criminal history.

"That (battery case) might not be enough to keep him out of a camp," McNabb said.

Herrera and his wife strode hand-in-hand through a crowd of reporters after the sentencing and declined to answer questions.

Afterward, U.S. District Attorney Daniel Bogden said the verdict and sentences should send a message to politicians in Southern Nevada.

"Politicians who are corrupt will be convicted like they were in this case," he said. "The judge made it loud and clear that these are serious offenses."

Neither Herrera nor Kincaid-Chauncey is likely to spend a full term in the camps, McNabb said.

Typically, inmates at federal facilities serve 85 percent of their terms. Inmates might be transferred to a halfway house for the last six months of the time served.

That means Herrera could serve 36 months in prison and six months in a halfway house. Kincaid-Chauncey might serve 19 months in the camp and six months in a halfway house.

The Englewood camp, a minimum-security facility just outside Denver, was recently named by Forbes magazine as one of the top 12 places in the country to serve prison time.

"Prisoners at Englewood can blow off steam by playing pool, ping-pong or even foosball," the magazine said.

The nearby maximum-security prison was once home to Oklahoma City bombing conspirators Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

The federal prison complex in Victorville has housed its share of well-known criminals. The camp that Kincaid-Chauncey requested is near a complex where John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Taliban, was housed.

Review-Journal writer Lynnette Curtis and Brian Haynes contributed to this report.

LETTER FROM EMILY HERRERA TO JUDGE LARRY R. HICKS

The Honorable Larry R. Hicks

I have put off writing this letter for some time. On more than one occasion I decided that I wouldn't submit a letter; however, I felt it important to express to you what I have been feeling over the past few years. I have often told my husband that I think he is the one getting off easy. Although I cannot imagine what it will be like for him in prison, in many ways that time will allow him to take a break from the challenges that he has faced and concentrate on getting his life back in order.

While he is away at prison I am the one that will have to take care of my business, take care of our children and deal with the shame of wondering what everybody I deal with thinks of my husband or, more candidly, thinks of me for staying with my husband.

This case has been present in every waking moment in my life for what seems like an eternity. Each time I thought the worst was behind me, another hurtful fact would become known. Although I am certainly not the first woman to have to deal with infidelity, I believe that few have had to deal with it in as open a forum as I. To hear graphic descriptions of my husband's actions while sitting in court has to go down as one of the most difficult experiences of my life. To sit there feeling as though every eye in the courtroom was on me made me feel naked and unprotected.

Over the course of the past several months, I have loved, hated, cherished and despised my husband. I have dreaded the thought of him going to prison and wished that time to come quicker. I have been so proud of how hard he has worked to earn my forgiveness and yet angry that he made choices that required it. I have marveled at the wisdom and dedication he has focused on his life within our church and regretted that I continue to look at all he does through such a negative lens.

I share this with you for no other reason than to let you know that my husband is, as we know, far from perfect. With that said, his desire to learn from his mistakes, make amends for his poor choices, pay his debt to society and come back a better man, a better husband and better father is admirable.

Dario and I have much healing to do. We have much to do in order to rebuild the trust that should be shared by any husband and wife. We have to work hard to learn new ways to communicate and how to overcome the past. We are dedicated to this process and with God's help will succeed.

I know that perhaps the most difficult change faced by a judge is the sentencing of an individual who has been found guilty of crimes. I respect the terrible weight that you bear while wrestling with your role in the determination of justice. I am hopeful that when determining my husband's sentence you can, as much as possible, take into account the fragility of our family and the very difficult process that we are currently working through. Any leniency that you can show my husband will, in the long run, bring us, as a family, that much closer to healing and putting ourselves all on the right track.

Very truly yours

Emily Herrera