Dario Herrera Mary Kincaid-Chauncey

Former Clark County Commissioners Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey are expected to go to prison for taking bribes while in office, but that doesn't mean they'll do "hard time."

In the federal prison system, white-collar criminals with no prior record are typically sent to minimum-security facilities known as prison camps.

"That's what's commonly referred to as Club Fed," said Douglas McNabb, a Houston defense attorney who specializes in federal criminal cases. "It's like a college dormitory without bars."

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Web site, the camps have a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio and limited or no perimeter fencing. Inmates can walk away -- at the risk of facing an escape charge.

"You definitely want to be able to get into a camp," McNabb said.

The Bureau of Prisons' Web site describes the camps as "work- and program-oriented."

Sandra Hijar, a spokeswoman with the Bureau of Prisons' western regional office, said the women's camp nearest Las Vegas is in Victorville, Calif. The camp, located next to a medium-security prison for men, is about a three-hour drive from Las Vegas. Last week the camp had a population of about 321 women.

Hijar said the nearest prison camps for men are in Lompoc, Calif., and Taft, Calif. A federal prison camp at Nellis Air Force Base closed earlier this year.

The Lompoc facility appeared last month on Forbes magazine's list of the "12 best places to go to prison." The magazine noted that Lompoc's inmates "can stay in shape using Lompoc's full gym and tennis courts."

Last week the Lompoc camp, which is nearly a seven-hour drive from Las Vegas, housed 337 inmates. The camp offers vocational training in the building trades, meat-cutting and dairy. An electronic cable factory, sign factory, print plant and quality assurance department employ about 500 inmates from Lompoc's high-security penitentiary and the adjacent camp.

Former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone was sentenced in November to three years in prison for his role in a San Diego corruption case, which like the Las Vegas case centered on bribes strip club owner Michael Galardi gave to elected officials to further his business interests. Malone, who worked as Galardi's lobbyist, is alleged to have acted as the strip club owner's bagman, delivering the bribes.

At Malone's San Diego sentencing hearing, defense attorney Dominic Gentile asked U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller to recommend placement at either the Lompoc facility, a facility in Englewood, Calif., or a facility in Sheridan, Ore.

All three facilities appeared on the Forbes list, which notes that prisoners can study to be personal fitness trainers or landscapers at Sheridan's camp, and prisoners at Englewood "can blow off steam by playing pool, pingpong or even foosball."

Miller recommended placement in either California or Oregon for Malone. Miller did not specify a facility. The judge also allowed Malone, who faces an August trial in the Las Vegas corruption case, to remain free pending an appeal of his San Diego conviction.

Hijar said judges can recommend specific facilities for the defendants they sentence, but prison officials have the final say on placement and can send convicts anywhere in the country.

McNabb said Herrera may be precluded from placement in a prison camp because his record includes a misdemeanor conviction for battery. "The likelihood of being designated to a camp because of the conviction for a crime of violence -- battery -- is very slight," the attorney said.

Herrera pleaded no contest to the battery charge in August 2004, while awaiting trial in the corruption case. The charge stemmed from a scuffle with another man at a construction site, where Herrera was working as a supervisor.

McNabb said Herrera probably will be sent to a low-security facility, such as the one adjacent to the Taft camp.

Low-security institutions, according to the Bureau of Prisons' Web site, have double-fenced perimeters, mostly dormitory or cubicle housing, and "strong work and program components." Their staff-to-inmate ratios are higher than those in minimum-security facilities.

Moments after Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey were convicted Friday of public corruption charges, their attorneys said they had not yet given thought to which facility they will ask U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks to recommend for their clients.

Attorney Richard Wright, who represents Kincaid-Chauncey, said he hasn't had a female client receive a prison sentence in many years.

Hicks is scheduled to sentence both Kincaid-Chauncey and Herrera on Aug. 21.

Wright said he counsels convicted clients to look at prison as a "speed bump" in their lives. "You're not talking about a terminal illness," the lawyer said.

Kincaid-Chauncey, a grandmother and flower shop owner, adopted the same positive attitude Friday when questioned about the inevitable loss of her freedom.

"I've been through a lot worse things, and I just know that God will be with me through this, too," she said as she left the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse.

Before Kincaid-Chauncey went to trial in the corruption case, Wright said he told her to anticipate spending two to three years in custody if jurors found her guilty.

McNabb said Kincaid-Chauncey and Herrera face sentences of at least 33 months under the federal guidelines, which are advisory.

Wright said he plans to ask Hicks for leniency based on his client's lifetime of good deeds.

"If it's at all likely that someone would get less than whatever the guideline calculation is, I think she's a good candidate for it," the lawyer said.

Under the guidelines, sentencing ranges are calculated based on the seriousness of the offense and the defendant's criminal history. In the corruption case, Hicks must determine, based on the preponderance of the evidence, the dollar value of the bribes the defendants accepted.

If the judge finds that the bribes amounted to less than $120,000, the defendants' sentencing range will be between 33 and 41 months, McNabb said. He said Hicks can hold the defendants responsible for the amount of all the bribes involved in the conspiracy.

According to a plea agreement reached between Galardi and prosecutors, Galardi paid between $200,000 and $400,000 in bribes to public officials involved in the Las Vegas case. That amount results in a sentencing range of 51 to 63 months, McNabb said.

The attorney said Hicks could choose to increase the sentences if he finds that the defendants' conduct "was part of a systematic or pervasive corruption of a governmental function, process or office that may cause loss of public confidence in the government."

He said the judge also could increase the sentences if he finds that Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey, who professed their innocence from the witness stand, committed perjury.