Bobby D'Apice Felon denied ever assaulting Kirk Henry

In September 2001, Kirk Henry had his neck snapped outside of the Crazy Horse Too in a crime that became the centerpiece for law enforcement scrutiny of the notorious topless club.

Nearly six years later, Henry watched in federal court Tuesday from a wheelchair as the man he says broke his neck, former Crazy Horse Too shift manager Bobby D'Apice, was sentenced to 41 months in prison as part of a federal plea deal.

Henry was disappointed in the amount of prison time D'Apice received, and he was also bothered by the fact that D'Apice never apologized for the assault.

"It was no surprise," said Henry's attorney, Don Campbell, of the lack of an apology. "Bobby D'Apice is the scum of the earth."

Still, Henry, a Kansas resident, noted in a written statement that despite his predicament, he never lost his faith in his family and law enforcement's pursuit of justice in the case.

"I have lost the use of my legs and nearly all functional use of my arms," Henry's statement read. "(My wife) has been transformed from my wife to my nurse. And, in the saddest reversal of roles, my children have become my daily caregivers.

"But through it all, D'Apice could not destroy our faith in each other nor in our country's system of justice."

On the night of Sept. 20, 2001, Henry was a successful salesman pulling in $140,000 a year, and he'd been drinking heavily when he got into a dispute at the Crazy Horse Too over an $80 bar tab.

What happened next is in dispute. According to Henry and his attorney, Henry was outside the club when D'Apice approached him from behind and twisted his neck.

"I heard a noise behind me, and before I could turn around, I felt an arm come around my shoulders and neck and I heard like a grunting noise," Henry later said in a deposition. "My head was, neck was twisted down violently, and I fell to the ground. I felt a pop.

"I reached down and touched my legs and there was no feeling," he said. " I screamed, 'I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs.'"

D'Apice, a felon and former boyfriend of porn star Marilyn Chambers, denied ever assaulting Henry. He said in a deposition he was the one who found Henry in the parking lot and called 911.

"I said, 'You can't lay here," D'Apice said. "Just get and go wherever you have to go.' He says, 'I can't move my legs. Would you call 911?' And I did."

D'Apice's defense attorney, Michael Cristalli, said the Clark County district attorney's Office did an extensive review of the facts of the case and determined there was not enough evidence to criminally charge D'Apice.

"There was never an admission to the Henry incident," Cristalli said. "Never ever. Nobody knows what happened."

But one fact not in dispute is that Henry's injury focused more attention on the controversial club and its owner, Rick Rizzolo. An extensive investigation by federal authorities demonstrated the club employed reputed mob associates, and it also led to a plea agreement signed by Rizzolo and 14 of his associates in May on tax and racketeering charges.

Rizzolo was subsequently sentenced to a year and one day in prison for conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by evading taxes.

His plea agreement requires him to sell the Crazy Horse Too and also pay $10 million to Henry.

That payment, $9 million of which is still due, resolves a civil lawsuit filed by Henry against Rizzolo's corporation.

In a related agreement with prosecutors, D'Apice pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to participate in an enterprise engaged in racketeering activity. D'Apice's plea agreement affirmed that he sought on at least two occasions "to extort payment from patrons through explicit or implicit threats of violence, and through actual use of force and physical violence against patrons in which various degrees of bodily injury were caused."

The plea deal did not mention the attack on Henry. D'Apice's prior indictment had accused him of attacking Henry.

In court Tuesday, D'Apice apologized to the court and his family, but not Henry.

U.S. District Court Judge Kent Dawson then imposed the 41-month sentence from a possible sentencing range of 37 to 46 months.

Afterward, Henry thanked U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden and FBI Special Agent Bob Bennett, who pursued the investigation for years.

"Bennett inspired my family and me to never give up," Henry said. "To all of the world, Bob Bennett may be just one man. But to my family and me, that man was our entire world."