Kenny elicits public scorn

Erin Kenny's last day as a bribe-accepting Clark County commissioner was nearly five years ago, but her corrupt behavior while in office remains fresh in the minds of constituents.

There is so much community contempt for the 46-year-old mother of five that a federal prosecutor cited it Wednesday as a reason to delay Kenny's sentencing for the ninth time.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Schiess expressed concern that Kenny's long-awaited prison sentence would be such a popular topic throughout the Las Vegas Valley, jurors deliberating the fate of real estate consultant Donald Davidson might learn of her term.

"Whether it (Kenny's sentence) is two years, five years or life, it will not be enough for many people in the community," Schiess told U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson.

Dawson postponed Kenny's sentencing hearing until Friday. The judge agreed with Schiess, and added that he had an additional concern that Davidson's jury would come back with a verdict while Schiess was tied up with Kenny's sentencing.

Kenny, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to pocketing cash bribes from strip club owner Michael Galardi, was one of the prosecution's key witnesses in Davidson's trial. She told jurors that Davidson paid her $3,000 a month for nearly three years after she voted in favor of Triple Five Nevada Development Corp.'s casino in Spring Valley.

Kenny also provided the foundation for a 2005 indictment that charged Davidson with delivering $200,000 to her after she voted in favor of a controversial CVS Pharmacy, fighting off angry residents who opposed the project. Many of the enemies Kenny made while in office despise her even more now.

"The disparaging remarks, whether they can be considered disparaging or appropriate, they will continue," Schiess told Dawson. "It's not appropriate for the jury still deliberating to hear those remarks."

Kenny arrived at the courthouse 15 minutes before Wednesday's hearing, maneuvering through a throng of television cameras and reporters. She was hit with a barrage of questions, but her only words were, "Good morning."

She and her lawyer, Frank Cremen, sat in the front row of the courtroom. Seated directly behind Kenny were two reminders of her most publicized clashes with constituents: Carolyn Edwards and Lisa Mayo-DeRiso.

Edwards and Mayo-DeRiso organized residents to fight Kenny when Kenny pushed for a Spring Valley casino, billboards along the Las Vegas Beltway, a Pepsi plant, and the zoning application for the CVS Pharmacy.

Most times they lost. Now they know why.

Kenny admitted she sold her vote for the CVS Pharmacy for $200,000, money she hid in an off-shore account.

The pharmacy is just beyond a wall directly behind Edwards' home. Edwards has a vivid memory of how rudely she was treated by Kenny and Davidson when she objected to the zoning change, and she has been anxiously awaiting Kenny's first day in a federal prison.

The sentencing has been a long time coming.

"It will be nice once she's sentenced and once she goes," Edwards said. "I hope she can pick up the pieces and repair her life. I just don't see any remorse. I still see arrogance."

As a part of Kenny's plea deal, she was required to testify last year against former colleagues Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey. Both were convicted in May 2006 of taking payoffs from Galardi. Kenny's sentencing, which was first scheduled to occur in October 2003, has been postponed nine times because of her role as the government's star witness against Davidson, Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey.

Malone and Galardi signed plea agreements with the government.

Kenny testified last year that her sentence will likely be in the 36-month to 41-month range. If Dawson determines she provided the government substantial assistance in the prosecution's cases against Herrera, Kincaid-Chauncey and Davidson, he can levy a more lenient sentence.

Edwards and Mayo-DeRiso say Kenny doesn't deserve leniency.

"I feel sorry for her; I don't wish anything horrible on anybody," Edwards said. "But I think if she doesn't do jail time, the public will be outraged, as it should be. She committed some serious crimes."

Edwards and Mayo-DeRiso were regulars at county zoning meetings. They were not shy about speaking their minds. During the public hearing on the CVS Pharmacy zoning, Edwards asked why Kenny was working with developers rather than the residents she represented.

During the most contentious public hearings, Kenny would motion to or slyly communicate with developers in attendance, Mayo-DeRiso said. Sometimes she even excused herself from the dais in the middle of a discussion to speak with developers sitting in the spectator area, she said.

"As a citizen, when that was going on, it was the most frustrating thing. I couldn't believe it," Mayo-DeRiso said.

"We'd all be sitting there with our mouths open," said Edwards, who before Wednesday had not seen Kenny in person for years.

Mayo-DeRiso had known Kenny prior to Kenny's stint on the Clark County Commission. She had worked on Kenny's campaign when Kenny successfully ran for state assembly in 1993.

"I thought, here's a woman with tons of energy. She's a mother, she's really smart," Mayo-DeRiso said. "I walked neighborhoods for her."

Mayo-DeRiso hosted a fundraiser for Kenny in 1994, when Kenny's political aspirations turned to a seat on the County Commission. Their relationship began to falter at the onset of Kenny's second commission term in 1999.

Triple Five Development had introduced plans to build a casino near homes and residents were furious. Because Mayo-DeRiso had experience organizing opposition to projects, she assisted Spring Valley homeowners in fighting the casino.

Kenny told her to back off. "She said, 'You better call off your barracudas, you better stay out of this,'" Mayo-DeRiso recalled.

Mayo-DeRiso plans to return to court on Friday to witness Kenny's sentencing hearing.

"It's closure. It's kind of part of the whole process," Mayo-DeRiso said. "Battling billboards to casinos to CVS, it's a lot of time and a lot of work. You put closure to that because you feel you were some sort of pawn. You were duped."