Dario Herrera Former commission member sentenced to 50 months Mary Kincaid-Chauncey Former commission member sentenced to 30 months

Southern Nevada's reputation as a hotbed for political corruption might have cooled Monday after two former Clark County commissioners were given multiyear prison sentences for their involvement in a bribery scheme.

The conviction and prison terms handed to Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and Dario Herrera were a far cry from the fate of politicians who have wiggled their way out of trouble before the state's Ethics Commission.

"This is what the whole trial was about, sending the message out," said Charles Kelly, a former federal prosecutor. "It's been sort of like Saturday morning around the house. The parents are sleeping and there's chaos out there, then suddenly somebody comes out and says, 'That's enough.' "

Kincaid-Chauncey was sentenced to 30 months in prison and Herrera to 50 months for their roles in a political corruption case. The two were found guilty of accepting cash bribes from former strip club owner Michael Galardi.

FBI agents wrapped up a two-year investigation of Kincaid-Chauncey, Herrera, Galardi and former Commissioners Erin Kenny and Lance Malone in 2003, when all five were indicted.

Kenny and Galardi pleaded guilty and served as the government's star witnesses. Kincaid-Chauncey and Herrera were convicted in May. Malone is scheduled to go to trial next month.

The case represents the first time in two decades that elected officials have been sent to prison on political corruption charges. Five Nevada politicians were convicted in a bribery sting dubbed Operation Yobo in the early 1980s.

Both politicians and attorneys said Monday's punishments should grab the attention of elected officials.

"It should definitely send a shiver to any part of the political community who might be conducting illegal or unethical activities," said Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who has served on the board for about 25 years. "I suspect this serves as a deterrent force."

Herrera's sentence in particular should reverberate, Kelly said.

"Any time you look at a guy sentenced to 50 months, it can't help but have a chilling effect upon the community and the desire to dance around the edge of the rules," Kelly said.

Craig Walton, president of the Nevada Center for Public Ethics, said because the district attorney's office and the attorney general's office have not been aggressive in prosecuting such cases over the years, politicians felt their misdeeds would not be discovered The indictments show the federal government is watching.

"The verdict and the jury's findings and the judge's sentencing show there is enough of a system in place that political corruption is no longer safe," Walton said.

After the Yobo convictions, politicians were more "suspicious and circumspect," said local author and history professor Michael Green. It's difficult to determine whether elected officials eluded trouble after the investigation because they were fearful of the consequences or because they were more secretive with their deals back then.

"People used to do these things in the backroom, not on the golf course," Green said.

Elected officials might think twice about criminal behavior, but their ethical struggles will continue, he said.

"I think what just happened may stop someone from doing something blatantly criminal, but does it eliminate the ethics issues? I doubt it," Green said.

Had U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks wanted to truly scare politicians, he could have dealt even more severely with Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey, said Douglas McNabb, a Houston-based federal criminal defense attorney.

McNabb said the judge is allowed to sentence politicians to terms longer than those called for by federal sentencing guidelines if they betray the public's trust.

"Had he done that, he would have sent a strong message to the public officials in the state that public corruption will not be tolerated," McNabb said.

Still, the sentences might help restore the public's faith in the legal system, Walton said.

That faith was lost after politicians escaped punishment by the Nevada Ethics Commission when claiming they did not willfully break the law or violate ethics codes, Walton said.

"They've been perceived as real weak," Walton said of the commission. "They take an attitude usually like, 'This is one of our brothers or sisters. These are our political folks and we don't want to be mean to them.' "

The public might look at its politicians more cynically because of the convictions, Woodbury said, but that should be balanced by the sentences.

"The fact that there were what most people might regard as appropriate sentences imposed, it makes most people feel the system can work," Woodbury said. "If there is corruption, at least a lot of the time it will be uncovered and appropriate sanctions will be rendered."