Herrera ‘grateful’ to be free of federal custody

Former County Commissioner Dario Herrera is officially a free man.

The one-time rising political star who was sentenced to a 50-month prison term for accepting bribes from a strip club owner was released from federal custody Monday morning.

"At some point I'll talk more about the whole experience and how it has shaped me. But for now, I'm just grateful to be home and be with my kids again," Herrera said. "I'm grateful to be back in a community that has been so warm and loving through the most difficult of times in spite of the terrible things that I did to my family and to compromise the oath I took."

The 36-year-old served 35 months of the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks in 2006, his time reduced for good behavior. He spent most of that time in a federal prison camp before being released to a Las Vegas halfway house in June.

Herrera spent the past three months on house arrest.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons released him Monday to federal probation officials, who will supervise him for three years.

Since his release to the halfway house, Herrera has worked as a senior account executive for Environmental Ink, a Las Vegas printing company. He shares custody of his children with his ex-wife, Emily, who divorced him last year.

Handsome and articulate, the son of refugees from Castro's Cuba was a rising star in the Democratic Party. A state assemblyman before his election to the County Commission, Herrera ran for Congress in 2002.

He was convicted in 2006 of charges including wire fraud and extortion in a high-profile corruption case that sent four former Clark County commissioners to prison. The case focused on bribes paid by Michael Galardi, who owned strip clubs in Las Vegas and San Diego. Galardi, who testified against his co-defendants, said Herrera accepted lap dances and thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for favorable treatment.

Galardi served 18 months of his 30-month federal prison sentence, and former Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey served 26 months of a 30-month term. Former Commissioner Erin Kenny, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison, is set to be released Friday after serving 26 months.

Former Commissioner Lance Malone, the bagman between his former colleagues and Galardi, is serving a six-year prison term. His release is scheduled for July 2012.

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.