The FBI's Operation Cat Call is over. There will be no more indictments about bribes paid by former strip club owner Michael Galardi. His sentencing to 30 months in prison means the government doesn't need his testimony for future cases. The hammer the government had over him to cooperate no longer exists.

Meanwhile, a lot of folks are wondering why, if U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks found Galardi "fundamentally truthful" as a witness for the prosecution, some of the others Galardi named aren't being prosecuted.

Simple. It's the wiretaps.

Hicks, who heard them all, described them as "the most potent pieces of evidence."

Galardi and the wiretaps in tandem made it possible for federal prosecutors to persuade jurors to convict. But Galardi's word alone isn't enough for a conviction because without wiretaps, it's a he-said-they-said standoff.

Plus, there are lingering suspicions whether cop-turned-bagman Lance Malone actually gave all the money he said he did to everyone he said he did. And he was the one passing out the cash. Galardi rarely did it himself.

One of the surprises in Galardi's sentencing Monday was when his California attorney, Robert Rose, engaged in a bit of finger pointing at two men Galardi thought should be indicted, his former Las Vegas attorney, Pete Christiansen, and former Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald.

Rose said Christiansen told Galardi the payments to elected officials were "campaign contributions" and that should be his legal defense.

Rose said he gave Galardi better legal advice, and Galardi then admitted what they were: bribes.

McDonald was identified early on as a "subject" of the grand jury rather than a target. In other words, the feds may have smelled a rat but didn't think they had a provable case against McDonald.

It wasn't for want of trying. The FBI was tapping McDonald's phone, and either he did nothing wrong, or he was clever enough to not say incriminating things on the phone. The FBI even picked up one conversation where he was telling a friend that someone had tried to bribe him.

Rose said McDonald "warned Mr. Galardi the county might be enacting a restrictive ordinance and encouraged him to get support in the County Commission." Neither Christiansen nor McDonald was indicted.

However, the person who McDonald said on the phone tried to bribe him is Don Davidson, a former official with Triple Five Development. He has been indicted on bribery charges unrelated to Galardi.

Malone's testimony combined with Galardi's might have built a case against Christiansen and McDonald. But that boat has sailed.

Malone didn't cooperate. Galardi did and received a 30-month sentence, the same as the least culpable of the corrupt politicians, Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, who received the smallest number of bribes.

The convictions of three former county commissioners -- Malone, Kincaid-Chauncey, Dario Herrera -- and the upcoming sentencing of former Commissioner Erin Kenny, have been "a wake-up call for this community," the Reno judge said.

He talked about how Herrera could have gone on to Congress where "he would have been more dangerous in years to come." Kenny could have made it to state or national office.

If Galardi had not cooperated, Hicks said, the top end of his sentence would have been 6 1/2 years. Galardi was the center of the conspiracy. He provided the money for the bribes. The bribes were for his benefit.

But he's going to be serving 2 1/2 years while Malone, who didn't cooperate, is facing six big ones.

Judge Hicks made an interesting plea, which got lost in the media coverage of the sentencing itself.

The judge urged bad guys to play let's make a deal if they have knowledge of bad deeds.

"If anything like this occurs again, I'd hope those most knowledgeable would come forward and cooperate with investigators and prosecutors," Hicks said.

It was a clear call to wrongdoers to play deal or no deal with federal officials.

Meanwhile, the sentencing that seems to have the most public interest is Kenny's. Her sentencing won't come until after Davidson's trial, and that trial has been bumped back once more, from March to May.

Kenny flipped, so she's not likely to get any more than the 2 1/2 years handed to Galardi and Kincaid-Chauncey.

Kenny's not the originator of the corrupt scheme; she's just the politician who sold her votes ... for about $400,000. We'll hear more about that when she eventually testifies in Davidson's trial.

Unless perhaps Davidson is listening to the judge's message.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.