Albert Rapuano, former general manager of Crazy Horse Too Gentlemen's Club, seen leaving federal court in 2003, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to underreport cash received from dancers' earnings.
At 64, the former general manager of the Crazy Horse Too Gentlemen's Club is now a convicted felon facing a 10-month stay in a federal prison.
Albert Rapuano, who held high-level positions at several major resorts before accepting employment at the Las Vegas topless club in 1998, received the sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States.
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"I apologize. I accept full responsibility. I ask for leniency," Rapuano said as he concluded a lengthy statement to U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson.
Defense attorney John Momot unsuccessfully sought house arrest for his client. Momot blamed Rapuano's downward spiral on his association with Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo.
"That friendship has cost Albert his status in the gaming industry," Momot argued.
Rapuano and Rizzolo were among 15 men who pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge last year as part of a group plea deal involving Crazy Horse Too employees.
According to their plea agreements, they conspired to underreport the cash income they received from dancers' earnings at the end of each shift.
Former shift manager John Drace also appeared before Dawson on Wednesday and received a 10-month prison term.
Momot said his client held the title of general manager at the topless club, but Rizzolo "micromanaged that entire facility."
"It was a title without the substance and without the benefits that went along with it," the attorney argued.
Momot said Rapuano graduated from New York City's Fordham University in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in accounting and received an honorable discharge from the Army in 1969. His career included extensive experience in the hotel and casino industry.
"Unfortunately, after Mr. Rapuano moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and began working in the hotel and casino industry, his personal friendship with Mr. Rizzolo affected his ability to be licensed by the state as a key gaming employee," Momot wrote in his sentencing memorandum. "This resulted in the deterioration of Mr. Rapuano's professional life, and he eventually left the Riviera hotel and casino as chief operating officer."
Rapuano told Dawson he accepted the job at Rizzolo's business after an exhaustive search for other work.
"I had certain financial obligations to consider," the defendant said.
Dawson said Rapuano could have chosen to accept other, less-lucrative employment.
Rizzolo's ties to organized crime, including his longtime friendship with mob associate Joey Cusumano, began attracting the attention of law enforcement years ago. Rocco "Rocky" Lombardo, the brother of reputed Chicago mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, worked as a shift manager at the Crazy Horse Too.
During a deposition in a civil case, Rapuano remembered dining with Joseph Lombardo two or three times while in Chicago with Rizzolo and Rocco Lombardo. Rocco Lombardo took part in the group plea deal and is awaiting sentencing.
On Wednesday, Momot argued that his client's punishment should be no greater than the punishment received by former shift manager Vincent Faraci, a reputed Bonanno crime family soldier who had a prior felony conviction. Faraci received a 10-month sentence from Dawson, but the judge is allowing him to spend five months in prison and the remainder on house arrest.
Dawson said Rapuano's situation differs from Faraci's. The judge said Faraci held a lower position than Rapuano at the topless club, had less education and a lower net worth than Rapuano, and had an extraordinary family situation.
Faraci's attorney argued at a sentencing hearing last month that Faraci risked losing custody of his children if he received a lengthy prison term.
After earning an accounting degree from a renowned university, Dawson said, Rapuano should have known that employees could not legally receive cash payments in envelopes without reporting the income.
Dawson ordered Rapuano to pay a $10,000 fine and gave him until April 13 to surrender to prison. The judge ordered Drace to pay a $6,000 fine and gave him until June 15 to surrender.
"I'm terribly disappointed that apparently John's exemplary life wasn't taken into consideration," Drace's attorney, Charles Kelly, said after the sentencing hearing. Kelly had asked Dawson to give his client probation.
Kelly told the judge that Drace is married with two young children, has a college education, and had no prior criminal history.
"John paid more taxes than any of his colleagues," the lawyer said.
Drace began working as a shift manager at the Crazy Horse Too in 1998. Kelly said his client made a living at the business, while Rizzolo made millions of dollars.
Dawson said Drace took his chances by continuing to work at the club, where he distributed cash to employees in envelopes, knowing the money was not being reported to the government.
"The defendant was not forced to stay there," the judge said. "He stayed there because the income was lucrative.
U.S. District Judge Philip Pro sentenced Rizzolo last month to one year and one day in prison. Rizzolo's plea agreement required him to sell his business and pay nearly $17 million in fines, forfeiture and restitution.
