Criminal charges related to Harrah’s remodeling dismissed

A cloud of criminal charges that has hung for two years over Harrah’s Entertainment, in connection with illegal remodeling at its eight local hotels, was finally dispelled Friday morning.

Judge Eric Goodman in Las Vegas Justice Court dismissed six misdemeanor counts faced by the hotel company and two hotel employees. Goodman, who happens to be the son of the Las Vegas mayor, did so after hearing statements by Clark County District Attorney David Roger and Harrah’s attorney, who is Richard Bryan, the former governor and U.S. senator.

The two sides jointly sought dismissal of the charges, which involved violations of building and fire codes, with a maximum fine of $1,000 per count. The two individual defendants were heads of engineering, at the Rio Hotel and Harrah’s Las Vegas, at the time that county inspectors issued citations in late 2007.

Roger told the court his office had two options: obtain criminal convictions or obtain compliance with safety codes. Since misdemeanor convictions would yield only paltry misdemeanor fines, prosecutors decided to work with Harrah’s to correct safety deficiencies.

“Misdemeanor citations are used as a tool to gain compliance,” reads a statement from the District Attorney’s Office. “Harrah’s has demonstrated cooperation in achieving compliance as required.”

Reached by telephone late Friday morning, Marybel Batjer of Harrah’s Entertainment said, “We appreciate that the county has recognized our commitment to complying with all local building codes. This issue is now resolved.”

To reach compliance, the county hired an architectural firm, Leo A Daly, which conducted an independent audit of 84 remodeling projects of varying scope that had taken place over the last eight years throughout the eight properties, which are all on the Strip, except for the Rio.

In May, Leo A Daly turned over its findings — which run almost 700 pages long — to the county, which managed the audit contract, county spokeswoman Stacey Welling said.

Since May, building inspectors have been checking hotel sites identified by the firm as presenting safety issues, and Harrah’s has been fixing problems validated by the inspectors.

Harrah’s Entertainment reimbursed the county $1.1 million, the full cost of Leo A Daly’s work. In addition, Harrah’s Entertainment has also paid a $100,000 administrative fee to the county for the review process. That fee does not include the costs of permits or inspections for repairs to defective work, as prompted by the audit.

“The vast majority” of anomalies detected by Daly auditors are matters that crop up in “many, if not all, equivalent or similar size municipalities across the nation,” according to the Daly report.

“There is no apparent, or underlying, large scale conspiracy effort to neglect” the permit and inspection processes that govern construction in Clark County, according to a cover letter from the Daly audit team, which was signed by Thomas Czech, a vice president at the firm, and Ronn Lansky, who managed the audit.

But “approximately 22 percent of the (170 Daly) inspections revealed possible life safety issues,” the summary says. Roger told Goodman at the 7:30 a.m. Friday hearing that Harrah’s is currently doing the final two life-safety repairs.

The majority of the life-safety issues Daly identified — which ranged from a single loose hand railing in hotel space occupied by a fast-food tenant, to unsealed holes in walls that are installed to stop the spread of smoke in the event of accidental fire — “appear to be a result of post-construction activity” such as maintenance or replacement, rather than poor initial construction.

Since the Review-Journal’s 2007 exposure of large-scale but covert remodeling at the Rio and Harrah’s Las Vegas -- which took place several years earlier, without permits or inspections -- Clark County has instituted a program to inspect high-rise and resort facilities on an ongoing regular basis, not just when it receives safety complaints about completed buildings.

Contact reporter Joan Whitely at jwhitely@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0268.