Gentile joins Rizzolo in multi-million-dollar court battle

Rick Rizzolo must figure he’s in a heap of trouble.

Federal court records show that well-known attorney Dominic Gentile is now assisting the former topless club mogul’s defense team in a bitterly fought civil case.

Gentile’s legal talents don’t come cheap.

Recently, he has been helping Harrah’s Entertainment in its court battle with high roller Terrance Watanabe over a $14.7 million gambling debt. Both sides struck a deal last week to let an independent arbitrator resolve their differences.

Gentile’s association with Rizzolo comes as U.S. District Judge Philip Pro is considering whether to hit Rizzolo with heavy sanctions for being slow to turn over financial documents in the court case.

Kirk Henry, from the Kansas City area, is suing Rizzolo for fraud in federal court stemming from a fight at the Crazy Horse Too in 2001 that left him paralyzed. A club employee allegedly broke Henry's neck after the man argued his bar tab had been padded.

Rizzolo agreed to pay Henry $10 million as a result of a plea agreement in 2006 to end a long-time federal racketeering investigation at the Crazy Horse Too.

But four years later, Rizzolo has only given him $1 million, which was paid by his insurance company.

Gentile might be valuable to Rizzolo if Pro lets the hammer fall in court.