Lance Malone Dario Herrera Mary Kincaid-Chauncey

Two Clark County prosecutors received free drinks, lap dances and sexual favors at Mike Galardi's strip clubs and then helped his employees receive favorable treatment in the criminal justice system, a federal prosecutor alleged in a letter filed in federal court last week.

In the letter sent to defense attorneys in a Las Vegas public corruption case, federal Prosecutor David Malagold named current Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Craig Hendricks and former Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Guymon as the recipients of the clubs' special treatment.

"Guymon and Hendricks helped Galardi by reducing or disposing of traffic tickets and helping Galardi's employees obtain favorable treatment when charged with criminal offenses," Malagold wrote in the letter.

The letter by Malagold was filed last week as an attachment to court filings in the corruption case against former Clark County Commissioners Lance Malone, Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey. Malone is accused of bribing Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey on Galardi's behalf.

Malone, Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey have pleaded innocent to the charges.

Former Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny has pleaded guilty to related charges and is working with the federal government.

Galardi pleaded guilty in both San Diego and Las Vegas and has been cooperating with the government. Both await sentencing.

Guymon, who left the district attorney's office last year and now works for the Clark County public defender's office, declined to comment on the allegations but said his name would be cleared.

"I've not been charged with a crime, and I haven't been involved in any wrongdoing," Guymon said.

Hendricks could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Neither man has been charged in connection with the allegations, and the letter does not elaborate on the allegations or their origins.

Galardi's credibility has been called into question.

In November 2003, he told Justice Department officials that another prosecutor, Deputy U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson, had visited his Las Vegas strip club Cheetah's and received free lap dances on at least two occasions. Johnson was the supervising prosecutor for the public corruption case in Las Vegas for more than two years before his removal from that post in July 2003.

He said he was removed because of a potential conflict of interest after he was accused of failing to disclose that he had accepted "things of value" from someone who later became the subject of an investigation.

Johnson said he later received a letter from the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility telling him that Galardi's allegations were "not supported by a preponderance of the evidence."

As for the allegations about Guymon and Hendricks, Clark County District Attorney David Roger said: "I have not seen this letter, nor have I received any contact from the U.S. attorney's office. We'll certainly monitor the case to determine whether there is any credible evidence to indicate whether Craig Hendricks could be involved in any wrongdoing.

"I know Craig Hendricks, and I find it hard to believe he would be involved in something like this."

During a parallel public corruption trial in San Diego last year, Hendricks disputed Galardi's earlier testimony regarding a meeting that included Galardi, Hendricks and Guymon.

Galardi told the San Diego jury that Malone, while a Clark County commissioner in 1999, demanded a $5,000 monthly cut from the strip club's profits. Galardi said Hendricks and Guymon were at that meeting.

Hendricks was called to the witness stand by defense attorneys and testified that he did not hear Malone make the alleged demand.

Guymon was also in San Diego for the trial but was not called to testify.

With making the allegations against Guymon and Hendricks, Malagold also makes the following assertions in his letter:

• That Herrera once received the benefit of a room at the Four Seasons hotel in Newport, Calif., from Rick Rizzolo, owner of the Crazy Horse Too strip club.

The allegation is based on phone calls intercepted by the federal government, according to the letter. Rizzolo has been under investigation by the FBI and IRS for about a decade.

The first arrest in that case came in January 2005, when Crazy Horse Too manager Robert "Bobby" D'Apice was indicted on a charge of using force to compel customers to pay disputed charges. The letter said this evidence will be used to establish Herrera's method of operating.

• That Herrera went to multiple strip clubs with Clark County Parks and Recreation employee Terry Lamuraglia, who is a former lobbyist for Clark County. Lamuraglia is listed in the letter as a "potential government witness." Herrera's lawyer refused to allow Herrera to talk to the Review-Journal about the allegations, and Lamuraglia declined comment when contacted Monday.

• That former City Councilman Michael McDonald received payments from Galardi while McDonald was a city councilman.

This information, in and of itself, is not new: McDonald lost his bid for re-election in 2003 after revealing he had worked as a paid consultant for Galardi.

But the letter goes on to say that Galardi's payments and discussions with McDonald "led to Galardi's efforts (to) gain influence on the Clark County Commission and ultimately with the improper payments to defendants Malone, Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey."

During the San Diego trial last year, a federal prosecutor's letter to defense attorneys said Galardi was expected to testify that he paid bribes to McDonald "before, during and after" McDonald's stint as a Las Vegas city councilman.

McDonald's lawyer, Richard Wright, said at the time the allegation was "complete fantasy" and called Galardi a liar.

Wright was not available for comment on the Malagold letter Monday.